The HealthPathways team has added a new localised pathway – Bipolar Disorder – to the website’s comprehensive suite of mental health topics.
The pathway has been developed at the request of the Mid North Coast HealthPathways Mental Health Work Group with input and feedback from psychiatric specialists across Mid and North Coast NSW.
‘We’ve designed the page to support GPs providing care to patients through different phases of the journey of diagnosis, initial and long-term management of bipolar disorder,’ said HealthPathways Clinical Editor, Dr Sarah Mollard.
‘The assessment section provides guidance about when to consider bipolar disorder, what the features of the condition are, how to assess risk for patients presenting with symptoms consistent with bipolar disorder, through to the referral pathways for diagnostic confirmation by a psychiatrist and treatment initiation.
‘This is a really important diagnosis to make, because we’ve got data that suggests around one in 10 patients with bipolar had at least one suicide attempt in the last 12 months. That figure rises to 25% over their lifetime.’
She said many patients with bipolar disorder experienced delayed diagnosis, sometimes 10 years or more.
The management section of the pathway focuses on the main aspects of general practice care. That includes ongoing monitoring around mental state, drug levels, side effects and toxicity as well as referral pathways for community and psychosocial supports for patients, carers and families.
The new pathway provides patient resources that GPs can share. There is information about:
- developing a routine that includes healthy lifestyle behaviours
- avoiding triggers such as predictable stressful events or people
- planning for times of stress
- how to identify early warning signs of relapse and seek support
- using a downloadable mood chart to improve understanding of the condition and provide insight to triggers
- using smartphone apps to monitor mood.
‘It also offers guidance around when psychiatrists might need to be involved again, for example when women of child-bearing age are considering pregnancy, or when patients might need a change in their medications,’ Dr Mollard said.
The pathway was developed with reference to the Therapeutic Guidelines and the RANZCP clinical practice guidelines. It adds to the pathways already available for common conditions like depression, anxiety, and perinatal mental illness, as well as more serious mental health disorders such as psychosis, PTSD, and eating disorders.
Mid and North Coast Localised Pathways
manc.communityhealthpathways.org
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