Mania induced by antidepressants - characteristics and specific phenomena in children and adolescents

Abstract

The phenomenon of drug-induced mania, i.e., a manic episode associated with the use of pharmacotherapy (in particular antidepressants) is well defined and described in groups of adult patients. The negative effect on the course of bipolar disorder has been confirmed. In the group of children and adolescents, this subject is still poorly known and rarely described because of controversies in diagnosing early-onset bipolar disorder. The authors present an overview of current research on this problem starting from case reports, through open studies to randomized trials. Because the results of studies are ambiguous, the main problems that hinder the formulation of objective conclusions and the most important directions for further research are also discussed. The authors also present current hypotheses on the phenomenon of drug-induced mania in children and adolescents to systematize knowledge on the subject and provide diagnostic help in everyday clinical work. In agroup of children and adolescents, there is aneed to differentiate the phenomenon of drug-induced mania depending on the basic disorder, because similarly to studies that concern adult patients this problem seems to occur more frequently in patients with bipolar disorder than in other psychiatric disorders. It seems that the diagnosis of drug-induced mania is possible in children and adolescents at the present stage of knowledge, however, the assessment of the prevalence of this phenomenon requires careful evaluation in further studies.

Keywords: adolescent; antidepressant agents; mania.