Referring to the BBC programme, the psychiatrists said: "It appears to have portrayed mental illness from a fairly benign perspective, noticeably without the strong association of risk and violence that are often reported in the media."
However, Chan and Sireling say patients who 'want to be bipolar' may not always comprehend the consequences of being diagnosed with the disorder.
"Current evidence suggests that bipolar disorder may be underdiagnosed in the community, with a significant delay to diagnosis.
"The challenge for the primary care psychiatrist is in either making or excluding the diagnosis of bipolar disorder and then sensitively dealing with the patient who wants to be bipolar," the psychiatrists conclude.
Source-AFP
SRM