“I had an episode of mania that lasted at least a year-but my GP didn’t realize I was bipolar.”

When Leah Charles-King was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it was because she had a doctor’s surgery and dropped a suicide note on the receptionist’s desk.

Bipolar disorder is a mental illness characterized by severe mood swings such as manic depression and depression. Diagnosis often takes about nine years because GPs are often untrained in details of mental health conditions other than anxiety and depression.

“I had been misdiagnosed as depression for years,” said the award-winning television and radio presenter. Bipolar UK..

About 1 in 50 people have bipolar disorder, which is one of the most common long-term health conditions in the UK. Nevertheless, the reality of living with bipolar disorder (formerly known as troubled manic depression) remains misunderstood and stigmatized.

This can cause manic episodes, as so many people with bipolar disorder are first misdiagnosed as having depression or anxiety and then taking antidepressants-as many GPs recognize. Untrained in.

“I obviously had an episode of mania that lasted at least a year, and I could see it, but no one else could,” says Leah. “I always went to my family doctor, and they told me to keep taking antidepressants.

“I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t eating, I had a lot of energy. I suddenly went overnight from the incredibly depressed state of being at home for a year in a row in my pajamas. I got all the energy of the lever, “she explains.

The time Lear lost due to a misdiagnosis (Bipolar UK calls it the “lost year” people experience while waiting for a correct diagnosis and treatment) is a member of a charity commemorating World Bipolar Day. I hope it will change with the launch of the association.

“The goal of this project is to reduce the number of people with bipolar disorder who kill them and improve their quality of life,” says Emily *, the leader of the bipolar disorder committee.

King’s College London reports that bipolar disorder increases the risk of suicide by a factor of 20 and 43% of people with bipolar disorder have experienced suicidal ideation in the past year.

With more than one million people living with bipolar disorder in the UK alone, the commission was launched today to ensure that people with bipolar disorder receive the treatment and support they need to lead a fulfilling life. The purpose is to be able to.

“We’ve seen professors who have done some work on screening questions for GPs to use antidepressants and explaining what hypomania is and how it manifests itself. “I did,” says Emily.

Family history is also important. Bipolar disorder is about 70% genetic, but it is not always easy to identify if the debate about serious mental illness in the family remains very elusive.

The diagnosis of bipolar disorder may seem like life imprisonment for some, but Leah began to get the help she needed, and her life improved after her.

“That day I needed to get the help I deserved and I got it. My life changed because it led me on the path to now,” she said. say. “I don’t live a perfect pastoral life, but what I’ve noticed is that no one lives a perfect pastoral life.”

Still, Leah’s journey from diagnosis to self-acceptance was neither short nor easy, and was exacerbated by the additional stigma faced by the black and minority communities regarding mental illness.

“Statistics show that people in black and ethnic minority communities are more likely to be categorized under mental health laws and are more likely to be stigmatized not only by their own communities but also by society. “She says.

And in recent years, boosted by well-meaning charity campaigns and Instagram etiquette, there has been a great impetus to blame mental health, but the unintended consequence of this is the turmoil of mental health decline. And a serious mental illness.

“People are willing to have mental health conversations, but they are still willing to have mental illness conversations,” says Lear. “I think people are confusing these two messages.”

“There are all these great campaigns like’Get Britain Talking’and’Be Kind’, but it’s still a very palatable way,” she adds. “We’re talking about anxiety and depression now-they aren’t that dirty words anymore-but the moment we start talking about something that’s longer-term, something that’s not a deeper, quicker solution. Nobody really wants to know. “