MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIETY
Table of Contents
|1. Critically evaluate the role of mental health services in supporting recovery and treatment of people with Bipolar Disorder:
|2. Discuss limitations of existing treatments for bipolar disorder:
|3. Assess the success of mental health system and professionals in providing care and support to people with Bipolar Disorder:
|4. Outlook of people with Bipolar Disorder towards treatments and services they receive:
Bipolar disorder also identified as manic depression, can be a severe mental disorder which affects the person’s moods wherein the person’s moods can experience changes from one extremity to another. People with this disorder mainly suffer from periods of depression or mania, the latter being a sensation composed of very hyper and overactive feelings. The assignment on bipolar disorder provides information on the various kinds of treatments existing for such patients and to what extent are they successful in improving the conditions of these people. The assignment further critically evaluates what are the problems associated with such treatments and to what extent are these treatments and policies successful in safeguarding the rights of people with bipolar disorder.
1. Critically evaluate the role of mental health services in supporting recovery and treatment of people with Bipolar Disorder:
Mental health systems and professionals have important role to play to provide treatment and support to people with bipolar disorder (Van Dijk et al., 2013, p.388). Most of the people with bipolar disorder go to primary care facilities to seek treatment. Physicians in these settings have to have the ability to initiate proper treatments. They also need to be able to diagnose bipolar disorder symptoms properly as its symptoms are often confused with that of schizophrenia and many a times bipolar disorders goes unrecognized. A study by Mitchell et al. (2013, p.389) showed that a number of patients with the disorder had not been diagnosed for over 13 years from the time of initial experience of symptoms. A survey conducted on 700 people showed that 85% of them had not been properly diagnosed and were initially concluded to have been suffering from depression. NICE or, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in their 2014 guidance declared that diagnosis of people with bipolar disorder must be strictly done by trained mental health experts. Primary care physicians and other mental unit staff members have to be trained properly in order to manage the patients efficiently (Moreno et al., 2012, p. 272). Various mental health services, organisations are providing extensive care for patients with bipolar disorder like medications to prevent mania, depressions, and hypomania episodes, psychological treatments, and lifestyle advices for both the patient and their families. Many support groups and volunteer organisations also provide health and advice to people with long-term conditions and to their families. All these supports help patients live a better life and live normally. These services also provide support and mental support to the families of a patient, teaching them how to handle people with bipolar disorders. The roles of mental health professionals in treating patients with bipolar disorder have evolved over the years making the primary health centres a major foundation for treating bipolar disorder and related mental health disorders. Even though these units serve as primary source for treating bipolar disorders, their delay in detection of the disorder is a major setback in providing timely treatments to the patients. Just a meagre 39.1% of people with bipolar disorder I or II are diagnosed properly on the year of onset of symptoms, with an additional delay in initial treatment for up to 6 years (Goodwin et al., 2016, p.269). Even though the disease being common to the extent that, 25.9% of 108 people exhibiting depression and anxiety symptoms were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the disorder remains under-recognised. If people with bipolar disorder seem to pose a danger to themselves and their family, mental health organisations provide immediate psychiatric referrals to patients in an atmosphere, which is safe for them as well as for others to help patients stabilise themselves.