CONTENT WARNING: THIS PAGE AND VIDEO MENTION SUICIDE AND THE LOSS OF A CHILD
Take action now with Bipolar UK to save bipolar lives
Nine-and-a-half years to get a bipolar diagnosis is too long. People living with undiagnosed bipolar are at risk of losing their jobs, relationships, homes and lives during this lost decade (1).
Research estimates as many as one in five people with bipolar take their own lives (2, 3). One of the many reasons behind this shocking statistic may be the long delay to diagnosis (4-7). Another key factor is that there isn’t a specialist care pathway for people with bipolar (8) which would speed up diagnosis and save bipolar lives.
Help #savebipolarlives by messaging your local MP today.
Here Megan’s dad, Andy, explains why taking action now will help #savebipolarlives
References
1. Scott J, Leboyer M. Consequences of delayed diagnosis of bipolar disorders. L'encephale. 2011;37:S173-S5.
2. Plans L, Barrot C, Nieto E, Rios J, Schulze T, Papiol S, et al. Association between completed suicide and bipolar disorder: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of affective disorders. 2019;242:111-22.
3. Miller JN, Black DW. Bipolar disorder and suicide: a review. Current psychiatry reports. 2020;22:1-10.
4. Keramatian K, Pinto JV, Schaffer A, Sharma V, Beaulieu S, Parikh SV, et al. Clinical and demographic factors associated with delayed diagnosis of bipolar disorder: data from health outcomes and patient evaluations in bipolar disorder (HOPE-BD) study. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2022;296:506-13.
5. Humpston CS, Bebbington P, Marwaha S. Bipolar disorder: Prevalence, help-seeking and use of mental health care in England. Findings from the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. Journal of affective disorders. 2021;282:426-33.
6. Ahmed GK, Elbeh K, Khalifa H, Samaan MR. Impact of duration of untreated illness in bipolar I disorder (manic episodes) on clinical outcome, socioecnomic burden in Egyptian population. Psychiatry Research. 2021;296:113659.
7. Agius M, Murphy CL, Zaman R. Under-diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder in A bedford CMHT. Psychiatria Danubina. 2010;22(suppl 1.):36-7.
8. Iacobucci G. Bipolar disorder lacks specialist support in UK, report finds. British Medical Journal Publishing Group; 2022