World Bipolar Disorders Day, which takes place on March 30, is an opportunity to remember the difference between depression and bipolar disorder. A poorly diagnosed pathology, because too often confused.
World Bipolar Disorders Day takes place this Friday, March 30. A date chosen in reference to the painter’s suicide Vincent Van Gogh, who arrived in 1890, after being interned in a French asylum. Victim of behavioral disorders which had led him, in particular, to cut his ear, the artist was very probably bipolar. What are the symptoms of this pathology? Why is it so difficult to diagnose?
Mood swings
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder, with significant variations. Suffering from bipolar disorder means oscillating between what are called high phases (mania or hypomania) and low phases (depression) : hyperactivity, euphoria, irritability, disinhibition, excitement, compulsion (sexual, commercial, financial) for the first and sadness, lack of desire, loss of pleasure, or even the disinterest in the second. People with bipolar disorder – or manic depression suffer from sleep disorders (insomnia and hypersomnia) and appetite.
Bipolar disorders often appear as a reaction to a triggering factor: it is not uncommon to find in the personal history of the patient, a separation, a job loss, a move, or a regular consumption of illicit substances. Some patients oscillating between depressive phases and phases of excitement find the periods of elation pleasant, creative and fear that a treatment, which will aim to smooth their mood, will turn them into sad and tasteless individuals.
Late diagnosis
Then there are the unipolar people who live either in exuberation or in withdrawal, which makes the diagnosis difficult. Only those in the low phase tend to consult and their symptoms are often associated with depression. Result: their treatment is not appropriate for their pathology. About 40% of depression is actually misdiagnosed bipolar disorder. Bipolarity remains poorly understood by the general public and is marked by many prejudices.
However, 2% of the French population, or nearly 1.3 million people, is affected. It takes an average of 8 years between the onset of the disorders and the confirmation of the diagnosis. And in the absence of specific treatments – rather effective – bipolar disorders have a significant impact in all areas of life: professional withdrawals are numerous and the risk of divorce multiplied by three.
The risk of a suicide attempt 15 times higher
These bipolar disorders are all the more debilitating when the disease begins in someone rather young, at the time of his installation in life, of his studies, or when he begins to constitute his family. Symptoms will often worsen with the onset of rapid cycles, that is, more than four episodes per year. Medicine is facing a real public health problem: the risk of a suicide attempt is 15 times higher in people with bipolar disorder than in the general population: 25% of them have attempted suicide, which is fatal in 15% of cases.
Support must be early, urgent and appropriate. To achieve this, we can never remind enough that when faced with these symptoms, those around them must be extremely vigilant and not hesitate to help each other in the opinion of several psychiatrists so as not to confuse the symptoms with those of depression.
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