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New Data, released to mark World Bipolar Day (March 30th), suggests unemployment among people with the mental health condition has more than doubled in a decade.
Metro reports that Charity Bipolar UN analyzed data from NHS England Digital’s latest Adult Psychiatrist Morbidity Survey (APMS) to uncover how the current system is failing to meet the needs of people living with bipolar.
The APMS is a national survey that measures the prevalence of mental health conditions, tracks trends over time and assesses access to treatment. As part of the survey, the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) was used to screen for probable cases of bipolar disorder.
The finding shows that people who tested positive for probable bipolar disorder have experienced a disproportionate rise in unemployment, increasing from 3.9% in 2014 to 9% in 2024. That’s compared to the general UK unemployment rate of 5.2%.
The phrase “probable bipolar” is also key here, as the charity found only 17.8% of people who tested positive have received a professional diagnosis. This points to “significant underdiagnosis”, they said, which is contributing to misunderstanding about symptoms in the workplace, and workers not receiving adequate support from employers.
