Bipolar disorder, a manic-depressive illness that's known to cause bewildering shifts in activity levels, mood, energy and ability to carry out daily tasks, does not allude the Latino community. However, treating the long-term disruptive condition is a matter of assessment and treatment as well as the education of the Latino community.

Studies have illustrated the uphill battle that multicultural communities face when it comes to bipolar disorder and mental health. Latinos and African Americans are more likely to be misdiagnosed, and they're often resistant to seeking treatment. Understanding how the disorder affects the Latino community isn't only a matter of education that focuses on how the illness works, but how it functions in the lives of uninvestigated populations.

"Bipolar disorder has a huge impact on a person's ability to function. Sometimes that lack of being able to identify and appropriately treat the diagnosis means that a person is going to continue to carry that burden. But if you're treated for bipolar, your ability to be functional is significantly increased," Dr. Luis A. Vargas, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and treasurer of the National Latino Behavioral Health Association, told Latin Post. "[Mental health professionals] must appropriately diagnose this disorder and make sure that we're assessing this problem as well as we can to get an appropriate diagnosis, leading to an appropriate treatment, involving psychotherapy and medication. Another part is the psycho education of an individual and their family, so they know what bipolar means for his and/or her life."

Dr. Vargas, a practicing child psychologist, went on to say that it is important for families to understand what the disorder means, how it expresses itself and how to support someone when they have a hypomanic episode, which can be more "difficult than the management of that disorder."

When it comes to prevalence, certain reports suggest that Latinos are at lower risk of most psychiatric disorders than non-Hispanic whites, however U.S.-born Latinos report higher rates for most psychiatric disorders than Latino immigrants. Additionally, the National Institute of Mental Health Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES) produced a study that found that immigrant Latinos had higher lifetime rates for dyspnea, which is a longer term low-grade depression, in contrast to a major depression.

"For whatever reason, it seems like the acculturation process appears to put some stress that leads to high rates of abuse. But, there's nothing that I've found regarding bipolar prevalence specific to Latinos," stated Dr. Vargas. "However, stigmatization with regards to seeking treatment for bipolar disorder and mental health care is still there, it's still an obstacle and it's still something to work with folks on. I think there isn't a very good understanding about what bipolar disorder is."

Bipolar disorder can be controlled with medications and psychological counseling (psychotherapy), for both can correct the instability of mood. However, concerns about assessment and treatment are prominent among multicultural populations, as well as the prevalence of stigmatization regarding mental illness and treatment. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control published information, titled the Burden of Mental Illness. There, they stated that bipolar disease has been deemed the most expensive behavior health diagnosis, costing more than twice as much as depression per infected individual. The costs largely arise from indirect costs and can be attributed to the loss of productivity, in turn arising from absenteeism and presenteeism.

According to Dr. Vargas, bipolar disease has become the diagnosis du jour. Many individuals are being diagnosed with the particular disorder, congruent with widespread recognition of the disorder by mental health professionals. This contributes to misdiagnosis.

"If you're going to apply a diagnosis you have to be very careful, from the practitioner side. You have to be pretty rigid in making sure that the criteria matches for that diagnosis. That diagnosis carries, I think, still a stigma. We need to recognize that this kind of problem exists," said Dr. Vargas.

Dr. Vargas shared that the immigrant Latinos have higher lifetime rates of dyspnea and generalized anxiety disorder than U.S.-born Latinos. Contrarily, U.S.-born Latinos have higher lifetime rates of substance abuse, especially for alcohol abuse, than immigrant Latinos. However, rates vary depending on subgroups and socioeconomic circumstances. Yet, inaccessibility to bipolar assessment and treatment prevails due partially to cultural and language barriers.

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