Under-diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder in A bedford CMHT.
BACKGROUND
bipolar disorder is frequently misdiagnosed or diagnosed late. Misdiagnosis of Bipolar Disorder can have serious implications for prognosis and treatment of this condition.


METHODS
patients in a Community Mental Health Team were systematically screened for Bipolar Disorder.


RESULTS
There was a substantial increase in the number of bipolar patients diagnosed in the Community Mental Health Team.


CONCLUSIONS
the frequent misdiagnosis of Bipolar II disorder frequently leads to the treatment of these patients with anti-depressants only.This leads to the possibility of patients becoming elated in mood, or going into mixed states, which can lead to increased suicidality.


CONCLUSIONS
appropriate diagnosis of bipolar II disorder requires skills at present found in secondary care. Such patients should therefore be referred to secondary care. Both Primary and Secondary care should be more aware of this diagnosis and its consequences.
South Essex Partnership University Foundation NHS Trust, UK. ma393@cam.ac.uk
Mark
M
Agius
Catherine Louise
CL
Murphy
Rashid
R
Zaman
D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008485:Medical Audit; D011379:Prognosis; D013222:State Medicine