Q:  Best Medical Specialist for Diagnostic & Ongoing Care of the BP Child?

Through much research, we are of the impression that the best medical specialist, for the diagnostic and ongoing care of the bipolar child, would be a neurologist.

Would you please confirm this, as the struggle to care for our 7 year old son has brought us to the brink of desperation.

In gratitude for your considerate reply,
 

Dear Ms. E' -- 
If  you were to post this question at www.bpkids.org, which I'd encourage you to join (too bad they have a membership fee now, but their site and their support and their advocacy work is really excellent, so they are a great resource for parents of kids with bipolar disorder), I think you'd get a different conclusion.  I think you'd hear, from parents who have been there, that getting a good child/adolescent bipolar specialist (a psychiatrist) is the best option. One step shy of this, if you don't have such a doctor in your community, is to get a good psychiatrist who's not a specialist but whom you feel comfortable working with -- and then augment her/his directions with a one-time consultation with a child/adolescent bipolar expert, e.g. from your nearest medical school faculty. I think most of my colleagues would agree with this approach, and probably also the bpkids.org parents -- check it out.  Good luck with your search. 

Dr. Phelps


Published February, 2007