Bipolar UK is fighting for quicker diagnoses after it was revealed the average wait for a diagnosis in UK has hit 9.5 years. ‘I wish I’d known about it when I was 21 at university because that would have been life-changing for my twenties'.
Ceri Ashe is among the people with bipolar in Wales who have been forced to wait for a diagnosis
, and soar through the most intense ecstasy. For Ceri, the moment she was told she was bipolar was the moment she understood why her mind worked the way it did.Ceri, an actor and writer, had gone through almost 10 years of painful, dramatic up-and-down cycles before she learned why they were happening.
It’s not just the label of bipolar, an explanation for past behaviour, at stake due to this delay. It also means a significant number of people – likely tens of thousands in Wales alone – are not able to access the medication that could change their future.Part of the reason for the wait is the difficulty in diagnosing a condition like bipolar, which presents itself in two radically different ways.
This was what happened with Ceri. When she first went to the doctor, like many other people living with bipolar, she was diagnosed with depression and prescribed antidepressants. But such medication can be dangerous for people with the condition, and it triggered ‘an extreme episode of mania’ for Ceri.
According to Simon Kitchen, the chief executive of Bipolar UK, the consequences of a manic episode can be even more serious.
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