Bipolar Disorder
5.7 million American adults are affected, are you one of them?Did you know?
Bipolar disorder is the sixth leading cause of disability in the world.
Also...
Bipolar disorder results in 9.2 years reduction in expected life span.
Statistics
Each year, bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million Americans ages 18 and older. One in eighty-three people in the United States will be afflicted with this disease. It is a serious condition that is affecting a larger percentage of the population each year.
Without treatment or diagnosis, this disorder can be deadly. Thirty percent
of the people with untreated bipolar disease commit suicide. Unfortunately,
seven out of ten people with bipolar disorder will receive one misdiagnosis
before it is determined that they suffer from the disease. People can
face up to ten years of dealing with the disorder before getting an accurate
diagnosis, with only one in four receiving an accurate diagnosis in less
than three years. Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed as having depression,
while men are more likely to be misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia.
The disorder is not discriminatory against age, race, ethnicity, or social class. An equal number of men and women develop bipolar illness. However, twenty-five percent of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder are diagnosed before the age of 25.
A person with the disorder most likely has a parent that suffers from the disorder. If one parent has the disorder, their children have a fifteen to thirty percent chance of getting it too. If both parents have the disease, then their children have a fifty to seventy-five percent chance of acquiring the disorder.