Bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depression) is a chronic brain disorder marked by bouts of extreme and impairing changes in mood, energy, thinking, and behavior. The most outwardly apparent symptoms are behavioral; however, the illness often has less visible, but serious, cognitive, cardiac, and metabolic effects. Symptoms may emerge gradually or suddenly during childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. Researchers have identified cases of bipolar disorder in every age group studied, including preschoolers.1 Here, The Balanced Mind Parent Network examines bipolar disorder that emerges in childhood or adolescence.