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• One in five Canadians will develop a mental illness if their lifetimes.
• Mental illness is a hidden disability.
• Two-thirds of people will not seek help because they are afraid of the response they will receive when they say they have a mental illness.
• Fifteen per cent of people with bipolar disorder commit suicide.
• Bipolar disorder usually starts in adolescence, although some people will develop a mental illness in their early childhood or late 40s and 50s.
• On average, people with bipolar see three to four doctors and spend more than eight years seeking treatment before they receive a correct diagnosis.
• People with bipolar disorder often suffer with alcohol or substance abuse and marital and work problems.
• One in three people with bipolar will remain symptom-free just by taking mood stabilizing medication for life.
• Most people do well on a combination or cocktail of drugs.

~ Courtesy of Treatment of Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families; Karen Liberman and Celine Bart