According to the Bipolar Commission in Wales, thousands of people have waited nearly 12 years for a bipolar disorder diagnosis. The charity Bipolar UK is calling for the Welsh government to cut the average wait to five years. The charity said that more than 60,000 people living with the mental health disorder in Wales were being failed by the healthcare system. Currently, the wait in Wales to be diagnosed is two years longer than in England. Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition where individuals exhibit extreme moods, which can last for several weeks. Deaths from suicide are higher in people with bipolar disorder, but many of those with it can be treated with medication.
Sarah De Garnham, a fashion model from Cwmafan, Neath Port Talbot, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2017, after being misdiagnosed with depression. Ms De Garnham was told by a doctor that pregnancy triggered her bipolar. “Being diagnosed made me feel like I’m not nuts or crazy, this is a condition which has a name, and I can now learn about it and do things that can help me,” she said. Bipolar UK said there are more than a million people with the condition in the UK, and millions more are affected through close friends and family.
The Bipolar Minds Matter report calls for an immediate restructure of the healthcare system in Wales. Simon Kitchen, chief executive of Bipolar UK, said there were “shockingly poor levels of bipolar provision” in Wales. He said: “Imagine living with a condition for nearly 12 years without the right treatment and support – that’s what people all over Wales are having to cope with. It’s simply not good enough. “This is due to a combination of factors including social stigma surrounding the condition, people not seeing their GP when they’re experiencing hypomania or mania, and a lack of specialist training around bipolar across the health sector.”
Mr Kitchen added that people living with bipolar have a suicide risk that is 20 times higher than people without bipolar. He said the charity’s mission is to clear up confusion surrounding bipolar disorder and promote faster diagnosis. “Not only will these changes improve the quality of life for people with bipolar in Wales, they will literally save lives,” he said. “We are calling on the Welsh government to reduce the average diagnosis time for bipolar disorder down from nearly 12 years to five years, within the next five years or less.”
The Welsh government said it has increased mental health service funding “to respond to local needs”. A spokesman added: “We have also invested £6m this year into the implementation of the Strategic Mental Health Workforce plan for Wales which sets out the actions to achieve a sustainable mental health workforce.” Prof Ian Jones, director of the National Centre for Mental Health, and a professor of perinatal psychiatry at Cardiff University, said the organisation was “delighted” to be launching the research findings.
The Bipolar Commission is set to release more of its findings later. Prof Jones said: “Together, we are reaching out to people with lived experience of bipolar and hope to build a ground-breaking, collaborative research community dedicated to increasing understanding of bipolar; its causes, triggers, and how best to manage the condition.” Ms De Garnham said modelling has helped her cope with her diagnosis. “This career has saved me. Mental health is a big thing for me on social media and I will always try and speak about it as openly as I can because I don’t want people thinking I’ve got the perfect life. I want them to know it’s not all butterflies and rainbows.”
