Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, affects millions of Americans. While medication interventions have improved the prognosis for bipolar disorder, most continue to suffer disability and dysfunction, ranging from poor concentration and irritability to suicidal thoughts and attempts. The effects of bipolar disorder are wide-ranging and often place special challenges and demands on family and friends.
Physical Health
Sharing a household with someone diagnosed with bipolar disorder can also result in poor health outcomes for other friends or family members. According to the World Federation for Mental Health, family and friends who share living quarters with a bipolar patient are associated with demands on physical health, overall activity limitation and increased risk of hospital visits.
Mental Health
In the article "Reducing the Effects of Bipolar Disorder," Claudia Baldassano suggests that caregivers have a 50 percent risk of being depressed themselves. Thus, friends and family are likely to suffer emotionally, as they worry about issues such as treatment and non-compliance of the bipolar patient. A depressed loved one is less likely to have the strength and energy necessary to effectively cope.
Frustration, anger, helplessness, fear and anxiety are issues for friends and family members of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder. A 2003 senate report to Western Australia titled "Worried, Tired and Alone" noted that most frequently reported concerns from friends and family were patients' reactions of violence, mood swings, alienation and abusive language.
Marital Dysfunction
According to the World Federation for Mental Health, bipolar disorder may be a cause of marital distress and dysfunction. Marital problems may arise as a direct result of the clinical symptoms, the indirect result of financial strain or a combination. Although mental illness is typically a source of distress in any relationship, chronic exposure to the unpredictable cycles of depression and mania are specific to bipolar disorder.
Financial Impact
The cyclical nature of bipolar disorder may lead to lost wages and increased medical costs. In a report from Mental Health America, "Ranking America's Mental Health: An Analysis of Depression Across the States," loss of U.S. worker productivity related to depressive disorders was reported to be $31 billion annually. It is difficult to predict how much of these costs are directly related to bipolar disorder as opposed to unipolar depression. However, the financial cost of living with bipolar disorder should also take into account the indirect costs to friends and family. As suggested in "The Burden of Informal Caregivers of People with Bipolar Disorder," work and economic consequences are likely to arise as a result of fulfilling relationship roles.
References
- World Federation for Mental Health: Caregiver Fact Sheet
- "Worried, Tired and Alone"; Brendan McKeague; 2003
- "Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health"; Reducing the Burden of Bipolar Disorder; Claudia Baldassano; 2004
- "Bipolar Disorders"; The Burden of Informal Caregivers of People with Bipolar Disorder; Alan Ogilvie, Nicola Morant and Guy Goodwin; April 2005
- Mental Health America: Ranking America's Mental Health: An Analysis of Depression Across the States
