Dear HIFA colleagues, (with thanks to Jackeline Alger, lead moderator HIFA-Spanish)
WHO has updated its fact sheet on bipolar disorder. Read in full here: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/bipolar-disorder
KEY FACTS
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that affects a person’s mood, energy, activity and thought and is characterized by manic (or hypomanic) and depressive episodes.
An estimated 1 in 200 (or 37 million) people live with bipolar disorder worldwide.
Bipolar disorder is associated with significant disability and difficulties in many areas of life.
Many people with bipolar disorder are misdiagnosed or untreated and experience discrimination and stigma.
There are a range of effective care options, which combine medicines and psychosocial interventions to help people with bipolar disorder stay well.
WHO response
The Comprehensive mental health action plan 2013-2030 highlights the steps needed to provide appropriate services for people with mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder.
https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/345301/9789240031029-eng.pdf...
COMMENT (NPW): We note in particular that 'Many people with bipolar disorder are misdiagnosed or untreated and experience discrimination and stigma'. This recent paper notes that 'Misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder (BP) is common in psychiatry clinics, with at least 20.8 − 61.5% of patients with BP being mistakenly diagnosed as having major depressive disorder (MDD)'. https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-024-05810-3
I would be grateful to hear your experience and comments.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org