Overdiagnoses

I've been getting pretty interested in mental health lately, as I seem to be going crazy myself, and have enjoyed reading up on the latest in mental heal news. Most recently, I have become aware of the serious influx in the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, previously known as Manic Depression.

MSN Article

I have a couple of friends who suffer from this disorder, and whom I feel have been properly diagnosed, however, I wonder about all of the poeple who could possibly be wrongly diagnosed with this disorder. There is no clear way to test for Bipolar Disorder, making it difficult to pinpoint, but doctors are becoming more comfortable with the diagnosis. Whether they have been underrepresenting it in the past or are over representing it now is still to be decided, but something has to be done to make this disease more simple to catch.

The medications perscribed for this disease are serious, and often in conjunction with several other medications. Should these be perscribed to a person who displays similar symptoms but does not actually have the disease, they could be detremental, or potentially fatal. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know what I could really contribute as far as constructive criticism is concerned, but I do care for the people around me who have either been afflicted with this disease, or are suffering from another form of mental illness and have yet to be diagnosed properly.