SAN ANTONIO -- Bipolar disorder is a highly disruptive mental illness that if left untreated often leads to suicide. Now, local patients are volunteering for a study to improve outcomes, particularly for Hispanics.
Teresea Wagner, 64, of San Antonio is doing well these days after she was formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder six years ago and treated. But before that?
“I was more on the manic side than the depressive side,” she noted. “Though when I was depressed, I was locked in a closet rocking on my knees.”
Wagner is not alone. Several million Americans suffer from bipolar disorder. Hispanics in particular often don’t seek treatment because of cultural stigma.
“Based on our experience, we’ve seen that patients from minority communities, particularly Hispanic communities, are less likely to seek out treatments for mental illness,” said Dr. Vivek Singh, a UT Medicine psychiatrist.
Now, the U.T. Health Science Center at San Antonio is recruiting 150 patients for a new study.
Singh and his colleagues want to develop treatment methods that are relevant and culturally sensitive to Hispanics.
“So in some ways, this is moving away from a ‘one size fits all’ to a more personalized care,” Singh explained.
Pinpointing which medications work best in which population will help patients control the horrible mood swings that often accompany bipolar disorder. Like Wagner, they can forge a new normal.
“It’s been a long road,” she stated. “My life is worse now in the way I live, not being able to work and not having a car, riding the bus, all of these things. But I handle them differently.”
“I’m content,” she added.
The almost $4 million study is funded by the National Institutes of Health. UTHSC is still looking for volunteer patients to help find answers to treating this elusive, serious problem. For more information, contact the research office of the Department of Psychiatry at UTHSC at (210) 567-0956.
