Taryn is a 14 year old female who is being evaluated as a condition to return to the private school in which she

has been enrolled since fifth grade. She has an ongoing inability to focus in school, and her mood reportedly ranges from “one extreme to the other.” Per her mother, she is either overly excited about something and almost exaggerated in her approach, or she is disinterested and irritable and doesn’t want to leave her bedroom. She was evaluated several different times in childhood for ADHD, and even took medication once, but it didn’t help. In considering a diagnosis of cyclothymic disorder, the PMHNP considers that: