A Bibliometric study published in 2003 found that medical researches on Bipolar disorder is lower than medical researches conducted for schizophrenia. In the Medline data base, bipolar disorder lags behind schizophrenia in all major topics and subheadings. The researchers however explained that their research method alone is not enough to conclude that there is a medical neglect (especially on research) for the bipolar disorder. They expounded that textword search may have missed some researches on the said ‘under-researched’ human illness. Clement, Singh, & Burns (2003) also discussed some factors that may have affected the bipolar disorder to be under-researched. Some of the factors are the interest of researches lies more on the highly abnormal illness which is schizophrenia; the health condition shows the more frequency of schizophrenia patients compared to the other mental disorder; and the interests of the media lies more on the ‘out of the world’ nature of schizophrenia. Disregarding the researchers’ disclaimer, data shows a huge gap in research activity involving the two illnesses. In the Medline publications ranging from year 1966 to 2000, research activities on bipolar hits 9612 while research activities for schizophrenia topped it to 31550 (Cement, Singh, & Burns, 2003). Whether there is a lapse in textword methodology or not, there is a sparkling truth that medical researches focused more on schizophrenia cases than that of the bipolar disorder.
There is a big possibility that bipolar disorder research is a less priority in medical research because there are only a few specialists on this illness among the medical professionals as mentioned in the bibliometric research. If there are lesser medical practitioners who specialize in the said mental illness then the urge to advance the knowledge and treatment for such will be marginalized. The number of medical practitioners is also influenced by the the number of patients admitted in hospitals, clinics or in mental facilities. As mentioned by the researchers, the documented patients for schizophrenia is way higher than those who have bipolar disorder. However, practitioners can view this situation in a different lens. It can be possible that patients who suffer from bipolar disorders do not necessarily visit doctors. This illness as mentioned in the research article is usually tagged as an extension of human’s eclectic emotions. People think that having severe mood swings are normal among human beings. On the other hand, schizophrenia has more documentation because people automatically conclude that having symptoms associated to this kind of mental illness is way different from normal.
Media sometimes dictates the belief of people even among the medical intellectuals. When the media gives importance to the bipolar disease and make it as a regular discussion in the air waves, it will be treated highly important by the masses and even the medical practitioners. However, the reality and data from the research mention that bipolar is something that can occur naturally to human being. Bipolar discussions in the media is hard to take to a serious mental condition that can affect almost everybody. The news worthiness can also be a factor in the lesser interest of media towards the said illness. One of the most important elements for news and features is the thing called “man bites dog” or the unusual topics hence, bipolar disorder being considered as normal for human beings will not pass to the criterion of “man bites dog.” On the other hand, schizophrenia is given huge importance when it comes to news elements as its symptoms appear to be out of the ordinary and the out of the ordinary topics always give life to media.
The medical community should take into consideration that bipolar disorder cannot be taken as a normal phenomena just because its symptoms are still within the normal range. The fact that the illness is considered as normal is already disturbing. Yes, it is true that bipolar ailment has lesser documentation than schizophrenia. However, it be pointed out that one factor for lesser documentation can be because of the lack of knowledge people have regarding bipolar as a mental condition. When people will be empowered as to how to regard this kind of illness, it can be safe to conclude that clinics and hospitals will be scarce in accommodating patients for such case.
It was mentioned that the increasing social and financial unrest in the whole world influenced the higher number of schizophrenic patients. The failure to cope with the present social crisis indicates a person’s lower tolerance to such stimulus. This condition can be analyzed that people who are prone to schizophrenia are those who have unstable emotions like those who have bipolar disorder. In this case, it can be said that giving more attention to bipolar disorder cases will decrease the number of those suffering from borderline mental illnesses like the schizophrenia. Like the classic phrase in health care, “prevention is better than cure.” In a situation where emotions and mental functions are disturbed by social and financial unrest, there is a need to screen all people who are vulnerable to mental breakdown which include those with bipolar disorder. In this manner, appropriate psychological interventions will be applied. As a result, they will be stronger for the challenging situation and will not become patients of medical practitioners with specialization in schizophrenia. Bipolar disorder is not an issue of less importance because everything huge started from small.
References
Clement, S., Singh, S.,Burns, T. (2003). “Status of Bipolar Disorder Research: Bibliometric Study.” British Journal of Psychiatry, 148-153.
