Abstract
As indicated in Chaps. 1 and 3, the rates of bipolar diagnoses in children and adolescents are dramatically increasing. However, many individuals report a delay of an appropriate diagnosis, with an average of 7–9 years between the onset of symptoms and a bipolar diagnosis (Faedda, Baldessarini, Glovinsky, & Austin, 2004; Hirschfeld, Lewis, & Vornik, 2003). Unfortunately, bipolar disorder is not often considered initially (i.e., around 10 % of the time), despite recurrent affective symptoms (including mania) and a positive family history of affective and/or substance use disorders (Faedda et al., 2004).