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Prevalance of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that affects 1.2 percent of the US population. and affects patients worldwide as well. In 1999, 25 people out of every 100,000 were hospitalized for bipolar disorder in Canada. In Australia in 2001-2002, bipolar disorder resulted in 15,943 hospitalizations. It is also reported that in the UK, one out of every people suffer from bipolar disorder, and it can take up to eight years to get a diagnosis. A delay in diagnosis also increases the risk of suicide; 1/4 of sufferers commit suicide due to a delay in diagnosis. The term "prevalence of bipolar disorder" refers to the estimated number of people managing the disorder at any time.

  1. Introduction to Bipolar Disorder

    • Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that causes the patient's mood to swing from extreme highs, also called mania, to extreme lows, called depression. A patient can also experience mild mania called hypomania. There are four sub-types of bipolar disorder; bipolar I, bipolar II, cyclothymia and bipolar not otherwise specified (NOS). The disorder usually develops in adolescence or early adulthood but occasionally develops in children.

    Statistics

    • Bipolar disorder occurs in approximately one out of every 83 people in the United States, or about 1.23 percent of the population. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), 2.3 million adult Americans are suffering from bipolar disorder. One study by NIMH found that 1 percent of adolescents ages 14 to 18 met the criteria for bipolar disorder, and close to 6 percent of adolescents came close to meeting the criteria.

    Causes and Incidences

    • Hereditary, biological and psychological factors all seem to play a role in the cause of bipolar disorder, although the exact cause is unknown. Heredity seems to play a large role; a child with one bipolar parent is 25 percent likely to develop bipolar disorder, while a child with both parents who are bipolar is 50 percent likely to develop the disorder. Siblings have a 20 to 25 percent chance of developing bipolar disorder if they have an affected sibling but not an affected parent. In identical twins, that number jumps to 66 to 96 percent likely to develop the disorder.

    Misdiagnosis

    • Patients tend to seek treatment during episodes of depression rather than mania, and as a result, bipolar disorder is often misdiagnosed as clinical depression. There are other types of misdiagnoses as well, which include anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. Patients with the sub-type of bipolar II, a milder version of the disorder, are often misdiagnosed, and their symptoms need to be carefully monitored to obtain the correct diagnosis.

    Complications

    • One of the most serious complications with bipolar disorder is suicide. Patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder are at the highest risk; they are 10 to 20 times more likely to commit suicide than those who do not have bipolar disorder. Eight to 20 percent of patients with bipolar disorder eventually lose their lives to the mental illness. Other complications include insomnia and psychosis in addition to mania and depression.

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