2023-07-23 13:00:00
Uncharacteristic symptoms, various disorders, ineffective treatments… Although this chronic mental illness affects between 650,000 and 1,650,000 people in Francebipolar disorder remains underdiagnosed and difficult to treat.
Bipolar Disorders Have Different Symptoms
The first reason for this state of affairs is that bipolar disorder remains poorly understood… Or rather the bipolar disorders which are characterized, according to the Vidal, by mood swings disproportionate in duration and intensity. But, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Networkthere are manifestations – and therefore bipolar disorders – different.
“There is a range of bipolar spectrum disorders with associated morbidity and mortality, but they are more difficult to identify, and we still don’t understand enough of the underlying pathophysiology to properly analyze what these disorders look like,” says Holly Swartz, MD, who directs the Center for Advanced Psychotherapy at the University of Pittsburgh and runs a depression and manic depression prevention program there. In other words, there are also different symptoms such as, for example, the frequency of depressive or manic episodes differs from one patient to another. Some don’t even have any at all.
“Depending on the symptoms, it is sometimes referred to as bipolar disorder type 1 and type 2, according to the Vidal. Bipolar 1 disorder is characterized by one or more manic or mixed episodes with or without major depressive episodes. Bipolar 2 disorder associates at least one major depressive episode with hypomania.
Difficulties in treating bipolar disorder
Symptoms of bipolar disorder are not specific or necessarily characteristic, and may be confused with other illnesses such as, in children, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). “The rate of misdiagnosis is estimated between 30% and 69% in Europe (70% in Spain) and the United States, according to the High Authority of Health (HAS). It can take 8 to 10 years from the first major mood episode (depressive, hypomanic, manic or mixed) to the correct diagnosis of bipolar disorder associated with the prescription of a mood stabilizer.”
When it comes to treatments for bipolar disorder, there are also difficulties. “Research shows that patients generally do not respond to antidepressants alone and may even feel worse after such treatment,” the study reads. In addition, doctors sometimes have difficulty finding the right treatment depending on the bipolar disorder (1 or 2) the patient has.
Nevertheless, “the lithium is still considered the best treatment for bipolar disorder and works exceptionally well in about 30% of patients, the study explains. For patients who do not respond to lithium, there are few alternatives.” Finally, the last limit to the management of this disease: “About 1 in 2 bipolar patients would not follow their medical prescriptions with regularity”, can we read on handicap.fr.
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