Growing up bipolar
May 25th, 2008Welcome to Max’s world, Bipolar disorder is a mystery and a subject of medical debate. But for the Blakes, it’s just reality.
In a Newsweek cover story, Mary Carmichael tells the story of the estimated 800,000 American children with bipolar disorder through the eyes of 10-year-old Max Blake and his family. Max was diagnosed at the age of two and first tried to kill himself at seven. He has been on 38 different psychoactive drugs, all with serious side effects. His parents worry about that, but to some degree have made their peace with medication.
It is an elusive disease that no parent fully understands, that some doctors do not believe exists in children, that almost everyone stigmatizes. But this is also a love story. Good things happen. A couple sticks together, a child tries to do better, teachers and doctors and friends help out. Max Blake and his parents may not have much in common with other families. They are a family nonetheless.
… The disease is hard to pin down. The bipolar brain is miswired, but no one knows why it develops that way. There are many drugs, but it’s unclear how they work. Often, they don’t work at all, and they may interfere with normal brain growth. There are no studies on their long-term effects in children. Yet untreated can be disastrous; 10 percent of sufferers commit suicide. Parents must choose between two wrenching options: treat their children and risk a bad outcome, or don’t treat and risk a worse one. No matter what they do, they are in for uncertainty and pain.
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