PREVALENCE OF BIPOLAR

It seems lately that I have met or heard from several that they or someone else they know is bipolar. To determine exactly how many people are affected in the US I checked on the NMH (National Mental Health) site and about 1.7 million people have bipolar disorder. That is approximately 1.7 % of the population. In children and adolescents there about 3 million affected. Many of these are misdiagnosed with either depression or ADD. Children in this group are actually in the early stages of bipolar disorder. They just haven’t progressed to the extreme mood swings found in bull blown bipolar. (MentalHealth.net).

Another fact that I discovered recently is that bipolar disorder may be caused by extreme stress as well as the usual heredity factor. For myself there is a heredity factor but I am beginning to consider the fact that extreme stress has only added to my diagnosis. 1996, 1999, 2002, and 2005 were stressful for me with extreme stress. Normally psychologists estimate that the human body can only handle three stressful events during a year. That includes marriage, a death in the family, divorce or loss of job. Although not mentioned I am sure that the recent hurricanes and tornados which devastated many areas of the US and left many without homes is also included.