Norma e desvio na infância contemporânea: o caso do transtorno bipolar infantil.

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the expansion of diagnosis of bipolar disorder toward childhood from a normative perspective. To this end, it stands out, in parallel, three specific objectives. The first is to trace a brief history of changes that the notion of childhood has suffered, with emphasis in the current context. The second specific objective aims explore the history of child psychiatry, seeking to highlight their reconfigurations to the latest years- context in which it starts the discussion on child bipolar disorder. Finally, the last specific objective concerns on the presentation of child bipolar disorder, especially emphasizing the different social actors involved in the spread of this diagnosis as well as the controversies surrounding it. In general, we will try to outline the broader context of both childhood and psychiatry, where this disease has become more visible. Moreover, the discussion around this case will allow us to observe other factors related to the numerous actors involved in the enlargement process of diagnostic categories, the controversies surrounding the diagnosis and details of the extension of a disorder for children. This case allows therefore a questioning of a broader process that takes place both in psychiatry, as in culture.