According to the Welsh Bipolar Commission, thousands of people have been waiting for a diagnosis of bipolar disorder for close to 12 years.
More information about the Bipolar Commission's findings will be made public later, according to the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH).
"I knew when I was growing up, I wasn't normal," Sarah De Garnham, who received a diagnosis in 2017, said. whichever normal is.
The Welsh government is being urged to reduce the typical wait time to five years by Bipolar UK.
The healthcare system in Wales is failing more than 60,000 people who have mental health disorders, according to the charity.
According to the Welsh government, more money is now being allocated for mental health services.
Wales currently takes two more years than England to get a diagnosis.
Ms. De Garnham, a fashion model from Cwmafan in Neath Port Talbot, was initially given the wrong diagnosis of depression before getting a bipolar disorder diagnosis.
The 35-year-old claimed that he was aware of the fact that his friends behaved in ways that were different from his own.
A doctor informed Ms. De Garnham that being pregnant made her bipolar symptoms worse.
"Having a diagnosis made me feel like I'm not crazy or insane; this is a condition that has a name, and I can now learn about it and do things that can help me," she said.
However, the single mother found it difficult to receive that diagnosis.
"I went to one doctor and explained my triggers, and he told me, 'Don't be stupid, you don't have bipolar, you're being dramatic.'" She said. '.
I went to see my psychiatrist, and he told me that shouldn't have happened to me because I have bipolar disorder. I felt as though I wasn't going crazy because of it. It wasn't easy for me to get there, but you have to keep fighting and push through. ".
Ms. De Garnham claimed that modeling had given her a way to deal with her diagnosis.
She declared, "Models had long hair and attractive figures when I was growing up, but I'm not that.
I'm a plus-sized woman with bipolar disorder, I have a shaved head, and if I can do it, you can too. You can, really. There should be no restrictions.
I've been saved by this career. Because I don't want people to think I lead a perfect life, mental health is a significant topic for me on social media. I will always try to talk about it as openly as I can. It's not all butterflies and rainbows, I want them to know. " .
Extreme mood swings that can last for several weeks are a symptom of bipolar disorder, a mental health condition. Bipolar disorder patients have a higher rate of suicide deaths, but many of them can be medicated.
When I'm manic, I seem to be unable to complete my sentences or anything I start, according to Ms. De Garnham. I once broke all of my kitchen tiles off the wall while I was cleaning and having a manic day. Simply put, it's insane and unique to each person. ".
More than a million people in the UK have the condition, according to the charity Bipolar UK, and millions more are impacted by it through close friends and family.
The healthcare system in Wales needs to be reorganized right away, according to the Bipolar Minds Matter report.
Wales' levels of bipolar care are "shockingly poor," according to Simon Kitchen, chief executive of Bipolar UK.
Imagine having to deal with a condition for nearly 12 years without receiving the proper care and assistance, he said, adding that this is what people all over Wales are forced to do. It is simply insufficient.
"This is due to a number of factors, including the social stigma associated with the condition, the fact that many people don't visit their doctors when they are going through hypomania or mania, and a lack of bipolar-specific training in the health sector. ".
The risk of suicide is 20 times higher for those with bipolar disorder than for those without, according to Mr. Kitchen.
According to him, the charity's goal is to promote quicker diagnosis and dispel misconceptions about bipolar disorder. .
According to him, the changes "will literally save lives" in addition to enhancing the quality of life for Welsh bipolar patients.
"We are requesting that the Welsh government reduce the time it takes to diagnose bipolar disorder from nearly 12 years to five years, preferably within the next five years. ".
The Welsh government claimed that the increase in funding was made "to respond to local needs.".
According to a spokesman, "We have also committed £6 million this year to putting Wales' Strategic Mental Health Workforce Plan into action, which outlines the steps to building a long-lasting mental health workforce. ".
The National Centre for Mental Health is "delighted" to be releasing the research findings, according to Prof. Ian Jones, director of the center and professor of perinatal psychiatry at Cardiff University.
In order to better understand bipolar disorder, including its causes, triggers, and the best ways to manage it, he said, "Together, we are reaching out to people with lived experience of bipolar and hope to build a ground-breaking, collaborative research community."
