More children in the United States are receiving diagnoses of bipolar disorder. Because some symptoms resemble other conditions, it is frequently misdiagnosed. Giving a child medication for the wrong psychiatric illness can have dangerous consequences.

A 2007 study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that the number of office visits resulting in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder for those under 19 was 1,003 per 100,000 people in 2002-03 in the United States. This was a dramatic uptick from 25 per 100,000 people in 1994-95.

Read more about the story of one young girl diagnosed with bipolar disorder.