Worsening of Depression Med For Depression 10/12/2010 Global ++Failure of GPs to Screen for Bipolar is Deadly: A/D's Make Bipolar Worse: J of Affective Disorders
Worsening of Depression |
Med For Depression |
2010-12-10 |
Global |
++Failure of GPs to Screen for Bipolar is Deadly: A/D’s Make Bipolar Worse: J of Affective Disorders |
Summary:
Paragraph two reads: "Depression medication could be dangerous for the bipolar and different treatment plans were needed, said Gordon Parker, the executive director of the Black Dog Institute."
Paragraphs 12 through 16 read: " 'They are seeing professionals who don't bother to screen for it,' ' he said. ''People get the wrong diagnosis and they don't get the right treatment.' ''
"At the inquest into the death of the newsreader Charmaine Dragun, who committed suicide in 2007, the coroner found long-term undiagnosed bipolar disorder contributed to her death after she was mistakenly treated for depression."
"Professor Parker said he heard similar heartbreaking stories of misdiagnosis '10 times a week'."
"Doctors were often aware of bipolar 1, which involved psychotic experiences and mania, but not bipolar 2, which involved lesser mania and no psychosis. 'Bipolar 2 has as high a rate of suicide as bipolar 1, it is not trivial,' he said. 'There is huge collateral damage'."
"Recent studies indicated bipolar 2 was up to 10 times more common than bipolar 1, with between 5 and 6 per cent of people experiencing it in their lifetime, he said."
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/failure-of-gps-to-screen-for-bipolar-is-deadly-20101210-18sx3.html
Failure of GPs to screen for bipolar is 'deadly'
Amy Corderoy HEALTH
December 11, 2010
PEOPLE are dying because doctors are not screening them for bipolar disorder and diagnosing them with depression instead, one of Sydney's leading mental health experts says.
Depression medication could be dangerous for the bipolar and different treatment plans were needed, said Gordon Parker, the executive director of the Black Dog Institute.
He conducted an audit of the first 1000 patients treated at the institute's clinic and found more than two-thirds had their diagnosis changed after being seen by the centre's specialists.
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Bipolar disorder and anxiety were significantly under-diagnosed, with about 26 per cent of patients told for the first time they had bipolar disorder and 40 per cent diagnosed with anxiety.
Other patients who had their diagnosis changed included one found to have epilepsy, another with chronic pain and one with "pseudologia fantastica" or compulsive lying.
Another woman said she felt worse when she took ''the coloured pills''. It was found she was allergic to the food colouring. ''Although she had depression the treatment was poisoning her,'' Professor Parker said.
Many GPs, psychologists and psychiatrists did not consider that their patients may be bipolar.
"They are seeing professionals who don't bother to screen for it,'' he said. ''People get the wrong diagnosis and they don't get the right treatment.''
At the inquest into the death of the newsreader Charmaine Dragun, who committed suicide in 2007, the coroner found long-term undiagnosed bipolar disorder contributed to her death after she was mistakenly treated for depression.
Professor Parker said he heard similar heartbreaking stories of misdiagnosis "10 times a week".
Doctors were often aware of bipolar 1, which involved psychotic experiences and mania, but not bipolar 2, which involved lesser mania and no psychosis. "Bipolar 2 has as high a rate of suicide as bipolar 1, it is not trivial," he said. "There is huge collateral damage."
Recent studies indicated bipolar 2 was up to 10 times more common than bipolar 1, with between 5 and 6 per cent of people experiencing it in their lifetime, he said.
But most did not seek help until they were in a ''low'' mood, leading to a depression diagnosis.
"Most people with bipolar 2 don't get the diagnosis over their lifetime, they are diagnosed with clinical depression or told it is their personality style."
On average people treated for bipolar took 10 to 20 years to be diagnosed, he said. But once treated they tended to improve more than the other patients in the clinic, the study found.
Professor Parker believed bipolar disorder was on the increase. Studies had identified changes in diet, consumption of stimulants such as amphetamines and energy drinks, and the increasing age of parents as possible causes.
Anxiety was also significantly underdiagnosed in the patients, but Professor Parker said whether the core of a patient's problem was anxiety or depression could be difficult to identify.
The research was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
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