For any mental health issues in children, early detection plays a critical role. The sooner an individual receives a proper mental health diagnosis, especially a child, the sooner they can receive proper treatment. In some cases, certain conditions have a much higher risk of not responding to treatment the longer they go undiagnosed.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is commonly diagnosed in adults, but there are some bipolar disorder symptoms in children that can be recognized early. Recognizing the symptoms and potential indicators or signs of bipolar disorder in children can help parents get a proper diagnosis and start exploring different treatment options for children, particularly the building of emotional resilience and proper coping skills.
Understanding BPD in Children
A borderline personality disorder is one of ten personality disorders that is characterized as problems with interpersonal relationships and emotional regulation, leading to unstable relationships, poor self-image, and impulsivity.
BPD in children can present with certain indicators. These signs of bipolar disorder in children can help parents recognize that it’s time to get help for their child in order to overcome potential issues with emotional regulation, impulsivity and recklessness, interpersonal relationships, and self-image.
Early Signs of BPD in Children
The early signs of BPD in children include emotional instability, a fear of abandonment, impulsivity, unstable relationships, distorted self-image, and extreme reactions to stress.
Emotional Instability
Bipolar disorder in children can manifest with emotional instability. For young children, this can include severe mood swings and emotional reactions to situations that are strongly disproportionate to the event that triggered that reaction. It can also be difficult for a young child with BPD to calm themselves down once they have been riled up.
Fear of Abandonment
Often, BPD in children begins to manifest with an intense fear of abandonment, either real or imagined, relating to friends and family.
Impulsive Behaviors
Bipolar disorder symptoms in children are often characterized by impulsivity as well. For children, they might engage in risky behaviors like recklessness or sudden changes to their daily plans, and this impulsivity can lead to the later development of BPD.
Unstable Relationships
The fear of abandonment can exacerbate unstable relationships. The signs of bipolar disorder in children can be displayed by unstable relationships. In this regard, children might fluctuate between looking up to their friends and devaluing them. The friendships they have might be short but very intense.
Distorted Self-Image
It is not uncommon for children to struggle with their identity, their sense of self. If asked questions about themselves children may be unable to answer them. Conversely, children might change their self-image regularly.
Extreme Reactions to Stress
Children who are displaying early signs of BPD will have extreme reactions to stress, much the same as they’ll have extreme reactions to triggering situations due to emotional instability.
The Role of Early Detection and Diagnosis
If you recognize bipolar disorder symptoms in children early, it’s essential that you get intervention, a proper diagnosis, and treatment.
Seeking Professional Help
The signs of bipolar disorder in children can be evaluated by a psychiatrist or other mental health professional who can rule out potential explanations for individual behaviors that might be better suited to those behaviors.
The Diagnostic Process
Once you seek professional help, the diagnostic process will take place with a clinical evaluation whereby a qualified mental health professional will review the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5 and make sure that there isn’t a better explanation for the symptoms that a child is displaying.
Differentiating Co-occurring Conditions
Equally important is to differentiate between any co-occurring conditions a child might be experiencing. Co-occurring conditions are mental health conditions that exist at the same time and can, in some cases, influence one another. Some examples of common co-occurring conditions include depression and anxiety. Another common co-occurring condition is BPD and bipolar disorder
Importance of Early Intervention
Early intervention can make a significant impact on how well a child is able to function as they grow up. Things like dialectical behavioral therapy can teach children how to control their impulsivity and manage their emotions. Emotional regulation is an essential skill for all ages but it can provide the support that a child needs as they grow up and deal with the increased development of borderline personality disorder.
Things like family therapy can provide a support system and help create a stable environment for a child to explore things like self-soothing techniques and emotional regulation.
Treatment Options for Children
Treatment options for children can include therapy, medications, and emotional resilience.
Psychotherapy and Counseling
Psychotherapy and counseling are the most common forms of treatment options for BPD in children. If your child is displaying symptoms, different forms of psychotherapy like dialectical behavioral therapy and family therapy can offer supportive environments for learning essential skills that reduce symptoms severity and change a child’s relationship to their symptoms.
Medication
In some cases, medication might be needed, like mood stabilizers. Medication is more efficacious if used in conjunction with therapy and is something that should be monitored by a medical professional.
Building Emotional Resilience and Coping Skills
Part of what a child will learn during psychotherapy and counseling is how to build emotional resilience and what coping skills work well. For some families, this might include going for a walk when feeling frustrated, doing meditation and yoga as a family, having a safe space with self-soothing books and toys that a child can touch or play with, and good communication.
Parental Involvement in Treatment
The types of skills that are learned with emotional resilience and therapy as well as coping skills needed to manage triggers can all be supported by parental involvement in the treatment process.
As mentioned, the more a family member is involved, especially parents and siblings, the more everyone can learn how to create a stable environment, how to encourage self-soothing techniques or emotional resilience, and how to recognize triggers and manage responses to them.
Conclusion
Overall, it is very important to recognize the early signs of BPD in children, and to get a proper diagnosis. A clinical evaluation can help determine whether there are co-occurring disorders and what type of early intervention should be used to mitigate the impact that the disorder has not just on current quality of life but when the child reaches adulthood.