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HistoryDisruptive
mood dysregulation disorder is a new disorder.
It was added to the DMS-5 in May 2013. It was once called, and is still sometimes
referred to as severe mood disorder. Lieberluft and her team developed the original concept of severe mood dysregulation disorder as an alternative to the pediatric bipolar disorder, as a more severe disorder that included constant irritability as opposed to episodic irritability. The term temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria was also considered when naming this disorder. While
some scientists still doubt its validity, the purpose of adding this diagnosis
to the DMS-5 was to prevent the over diagnosis of children with pediatric
bipolar disorder. Many psychiatrists
noted an increase in the number of diagnoses of this disorder in children under
twelve. Many doctors felt that these
children were not being best served with this diagnosis, as it did not address
the symptoms of constant irritability as does disruptive mood dysregulation
disorder. Also, many children may have
classified for many of the other symptoms of bipolar disorder but did not
experience mania.
Researchers feel that having included this diagnosis in the DMS-5 is a huge step forward in finding treatment. Now that it is included as a diagnosis researchers can now look for treatments for this irritability and determine if this is in fact part of a separate disorder or linked with other disorders. Doctors also believe that it is important to look deeply into this specific disorder, because research has shown that chronic irritability as adolescents can lead to depression in adulthood. However Dr. Stringaris points out, “'Being irritable as a teenager does have a knock on effect in later life, but is unlikely to lead to bipolar disorder.” Therefore by preemptively labeling these symptoms as pediatric bipolar disorder, a disservice is being done to these patients, and future mental health problems may await. |