Differential Diagnosis of Bipolar vs Unipolar Depression in Youth
Duration: 32 mins
Publication Date: 21 Mar 2024
Next Review Date: 21 Mar 2027
DOI: 10.13056/acamh.13592
Description
About 20% of youth develop functionally impairing depression that substantially increases the risk for suicidality and hampers normal development. However, depression is a heterogeneous condition with various degrees of severity and different etiological mechanisms. Furthermore, less than two-thirds of depressed youth respond to treatment interventions and still have a high risk for relapses despite ongoing treatment. Recent findings have demonstrated a substantial co-occurrence of cognitive difficulties and mixed manic features during depression that brings up significant diagnostic and treatment challenges. Furthermore, some depressed youth, especially those with a family history of bipolar disorder, can develop manic episode in few years that complicates the treatment interventions. Youth with higher risk are those with mania, agitation, of baseline suicidal ideation, and they should be monitored closely with close parental guidance. In this symposium, Dr. Diler from the US will review the diagnostic and treatment difficulties of mixed manic features of unipolar and bipolar depression in youth. This talk will allow enough time for questions and help improve understanding and practice of diagnosis and treatment of paediatric depression.
Learning Objectives
A. Identify key clinical features of depression and mixed features for accurate mood disorder diagnosis
B. Differentiate mixed mood presentations in youth from other common psychiatric diagnoses.
C. Identify appropriate instruments for monitoring youth for possible bipolar spectrum disorders
