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Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health
The compulsions people have can centre on many different things, but are commonly:
• Fears about illness or worrying about being harmed
• Keeping things clean
• Keeping things tidy
• Fearing that something bad might happen if a particular ritual is not
carried out
• Arranging things or lining things up in certain ways
• Counting things.
The person may feel that their anxiety can be reduced by carrying out the compulsive
behaviour and this often takes up a lot of their time, causing distress and interfering
with their lives.
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition with symptoms that are not necessarily
present all the time. It affects approximately 1 in 100 people and tends to be first
recognised in adolescence, when symptoms may begin between the ages of 15
and 19. It is very rare in young children.
The disorder is characterised by extremes of moods, with episodes lasting for days
or even weeks at a time. These mood changes are far more than the usual range of
happy and sad feelings that people usually experience.
Many celebrities in recent years have talked openly about their bipolar disorder, and
this helps to reduce the stigma associated with the disorder and makes it easier
perhaps for children and young people to talk about their own symptoms.
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