AUSTIN, Texas -- Numbers from the National Alliance on Mental Illness show about 10 million Americans live with bipolar disorder and treatment options can vary.
- NAMI says about 10 million people live with bipolar disorder
- Researchers in Australia want to conduct a genetic study
- Hope to recruit 100,000 participants
That's the reason researchers in Australia want to conduct a genetic study of the mental illness.
They hope to identify genes which could identify individuals at higher risk of developing bipolar disorder in hopes of making treatment options more effective.
A mental health advocate living with bipolar disorder says currently treatment is different for everyone.
“Recovery and treatment for me was medical, it was learning different skills in therapy, different schools. It was dialectic based therapy,” Ana Agarrat a mental health advocate said.
Experts on bipolar disorder hope to recruit 100,000 participants for a year-long study.