Depression in a preschooler does not always look the same as it does in the mind of a more developed human, one reason may be that preschool and grade school depression has been largely neglected. Children have shorter mood cycles than adults do. In order for a child to be diagnosed as bipolar, they must experience a mood shit from, "manic," to, "hypomanic," mental state. Manic Children think they can accomplish things magically. These fantasy's include, thinking they can jump out of moving cars, or throwing a ball as high as the sky. Many parents assume their child is suffering from bipolar disorder because the child is symptomatic of being severely depressed, but to make this diagnosis of bipolar disorder, mania must be also present. Sudden, explosive rage; the rage that occurs in bipolar disorder is different from anger. It happens at the drop of a hat with no provocation, and as Hagop Akiskal, MD, psychiatry professor and director of the International Mood Center at San Diego Veterans Administration Medical Center, also a specialist on bipolar disorder in children, says, the rage, "is sudden and explosive." A raging child may attack others with weapon, may scream, cry, and .
laugh at the same time. The child is totally, "beside himself," with misery. .
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, only in the past 20 or so years has depression in children been taken seriously. A common question asked is, "Is there a difference between manic depression (bipolar disorder) and plain old depression?" According to John Grohol Psy. D, depression can be a stand-alone diagnosis, or part of another disorder, like bipolar. A depressed child may cling to their parents, refuse to go to school and pretend to be sick (NIMH). Symptoms are similar for bipolar, however bipolar disorder includes both mania and depression. The old term for bipolar disorder is manic .