Bipolar disorder patients on the rise

By Lee Kyung-min

The number of bipolar disorder patients in their 20s increased by 26 percent in the past five years, according to the National Health Insurance Service Sunday.

Bipolar disorder patients suffer from mood swings.

They get hyper at one moment, and feel straight down the next. And the cycle repeats.

Pent-up rage, stress, and anger could be all cause of the disorder, doctors said.

Dysfunction in the brain or in the flow of hormones might cause the conditions, too.

To treat this, taking pills under the prescription by doctors is the best way, they added.

In 2007, 46,000 people were treated for the illness. After five years, in 2011, 12,000 were added to the list.

The health care cost soared accordingly, by 40 percent, from 55 billion won ($4.8 million) to 77 billion won.

The rapid increase was marked particularly by the people with jobs in their 20s, the result showed.

The increase rate among them was twice as steep compared to that of people with jobs of all age.

Women, more than men, were getting more prone to the condition, according to the result.