title: Soft Bipolar: Vivid Thoughts, Mood Shifts and Swings, Depression, and Anxiety of the Mild Mood Disorders Affecting Millions
author: Charles K. Bunch
description: <b>Charles K.Bunch, Ph.D.</b> has his Ph.D. in Counseling from the Union Institute and University, and a Masters degree in Counseling from Idaho State University. He has lectured in the US as well as overseas. Dr. Bunch is the Director of Boise Bipolar Center and practices as a Clinical Counselor. He has developed materials and class structures to provide outpatient treatment to Soft Bipolar sufferers. I immensely enjoy my work with Soft Bipolar patients. When they are diagnosed and treated correctly they move on to creative and productive lives. They are the spice of life.
zlib_text: Defining the Problem
  Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic-depressive illness,
  is a chronic condition characterized by extreme fluctuations
  in mood, energy, thought, and behavior that interfere signifi-
  cantly with normal, healthy functioning. Although the American
  Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
  Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) currently uses the
  same criteria to identify bipolar disorder in children and teens
  as it does in adults, recent research indicates that children
  with bipolar disorder may not manifest the same precise
  symptoms.
  While adults may experience symptoms of a single mood for an extended period of time, bipolar
  disorder in children and teens is often continuous and rapid-cycling. The shift from a manic
  (excitable, elevated, expansive, or irritable) mood to a depressed (sad, low-energy, and
  uninterested) state can occur several times within a single day. With children, symptoms of both
  moods frequently occur simultaneously. When 