BeyondBlue Australia

Yesterday we went to watch a play ‘Dr. Cade’s Performance’ organised by the beyondblue research project. Beyondblue is the Australian national initiative for people living with bipolar disorder (previously known as manic depression). This was their February update to offer information, awaken people and make people more aware of what bipolarism is. Though the bipolar disorder has been acknowledged in the medical system for long, it has failed to draw enough attention and often times the patients symptoms were not recognised by health professionals and they recived incorrect diagnoses and wrong treatment. It speaks of many that have suffered social isolation, the failure of any support networks and breakdown of many relationships. Drawing on their views Beyondblue offers a way forward.

Only last thursday I was surfing through the beyondblue site where I came upon a story of a girl treated unfairly in a Sydney Hospital due to the total lack of knowledge and concern in the current medical system. It is good to see that they are being heard much more than they did in the years past and people are willing to come forward with their painful stories and heartaches even if that meant living through those bitter moments again.

Last nights play scoped the events of the World War when Australians were braving the Japanese soldiers. It was a play telling the true story of Dr John Cade, a Melbourne psychiatrist who in 1948 discovered Lithium as a treatment for manic depressive illness. Home from the war where he was a prisoner of the Japanese at Changi for three and a half years, Dr John Cade, working from a disused kitchen in the Royal Park Mental Hospital, made the remarkable discovery in 1948 that Lithium was extemely effective in the treatment of manic depressive illness. After testing the drug in himself, Dr. Cade administered it to his patients.

The play addressed his time in Changi and explores his relationship with a manic depressive patient at the Repatriation Hospital where he worked now known as bipolar mood disorder, a mental illness that affects mood states, from the extreme highs of mania to the deep lows of depression.

A very touching play, I couldn’t help myself and had a few tears trickling down the corner of my eyes. Chances are you know someone who has bipolar disorder and you can offer help, or you can pass the word around and make people aware of these issues so that more are aware and understanding. And perhaps the least you can, is to ask your friends to look at this post and sign in your thoughts or pass it to your caring friends. I donot suffer from Bipolarism but that doesn’t stop me from being deaf to others needs. Help the foundation grow. Join the blue voices and offer them your support.