Comorbid bipolar affective disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder in childhood: a case study and brief review

Obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar affective disorder in the pediatric population show a bidirectional overlap. Few studies that have addressed this issue show that the prevalence of obsessive compulsive disorder in bipolar affective disorder patients ranges from 0 to 54%, and 1.85 to 36% of the obsessive compulsive disorder patients have a comorbid bipolar affective disorder. We report a case of a patient with an onset of obsessive compulsive disorder at two-and-a-half years of age, who developed mania after exposure to escitalopram. We suggest that in pediatric obsessive compulsive disorder cases, antidepressants be used with caution, especially in cases with a positive family history of bipolar affective disorder.