When Sally started to develop bipolar disorder at age 17, her mum, Alison, didn’t know who to turn to for help. Alison knew something was wrong, but she felt utterly helpless and unsupported. “It took a long time for Sally to be diagnosed. The doctors brushed it off. We tried to make do, but her episodes got steadily worse. I just wish we could have gotten help for her sooner.”

Because of the mild onset, when Sally first visitied her GP they simply brushed her off, and she was told to ‘monitor her condition’.

Over the years, Sally’s episodes got steadily worse, and she fell into a cycle of recurring psychotic mania. Sally screamed at her family, and accused them of spying on her. She forgot to eat, and dark shadows would constantly be under her eyes from fatigue. She even refused to sleep because of the ‘ghosts’ in her room, and spent all her money on impulse purchases.

Sally dropped out of university, and was unable to pursue a career. Finally, as her condition spiralled, Sally was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and she was prescribed a series of powerful medications that gave her significant side-effects.

 After so many years of being failed by the health system, it’s no surprise that Sally didn’t trust her doctors and didn’t want to take her pills. She soon stopped, and the cycle continued.

“Bipolar disorder is currently the third-most common cause of disability related to mental health problems in young people. It typically comes on as episodes. Either high mood (manic) or low mood (depressive). Both are associated with young people not being able to study, work or engage with interpersonal relationships in an effective way." - Dr Aswin Ratheesh, head of Orygen’s Bipolar Early Intervention Clinic.

In her ‘high moods’, Sally was constantly restless, swinging from extreme happiness to sudden fits of rage. Spending money she didn’t have, Sally bought expensive plane tickets, planning elaborate overseas trips. She became paranoid, believing her friends were stealing from her and, in a heart-breaking moment, wrongly accused her father of sexual assault.

“Without being able to concentrate, my academic life was shattered. Every night I'd scream into my pillow, shaking and crying. My emotions were so uncontrollably heightened that I wanted to die. I kept telling myself it would get better, but this continued for months.”

Then Sally would fall into her ‘low mood’. She would stop eating, rapidly losing weight and energy, and become overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness and guilt. Irritable, feeling worthless… her thoughts would turn to suicide.

This didn’t need to happen. Sally should have been diagnosed and treated right at the start to prevent this unnecessary pain and devastation in her life.

"If we can intervene early, we can set these young people up to have a much better experience, succeed in managing their illness, and go into the next phase of their life with confidence.” - Dr Aswin Ratheesh, head of Orygen’s Bipolar Early Intervention Clinic.

Since 1992, the team at Orygen has been working hard to raise critical funds to ensure young people are supported through their mental health journey. With continued support from our amazing community we can not only help to save lives, but transform them.