Child Bipolar: Youth Gone Wild?

This one has been covered by many other outlets (Furious Seasons, Washington Post, Psych Central, etc.) and I have admittedly little to add. A recent study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that diagnosis of child bipolar disorder has increased 4000% No, that is no misprint. Here's a quote from the article:

While the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in adults increased nearly 2-fold during the 10-year study period, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in youth increased approximately 40-fold during this period

This is the change from 1994 to 2003. A 40-fold increase in child bipolar diagnoses. I advise all readers to check out the limitations of the study pointed out at Psych Central. Even with some caveats, the results can be accurately described as stunning.

Well, Joe Beiderman (1, 2), are you happy about this development? Perhaps the child bipolar crew at Mass General can write another op-ed and defend how work by Biederman and friends has helped to push "awareness" (or is it misdiagnosis?) of child bipolar disorder.

In the meantime, is it the Youth Gone Wild or the Treatment of Youth Gone Wild?