More than 57 million people in the United States suffer from some type of mental disorder. Mental illnesses can turn a person's world upside down. These medical conditions can disrupt every aspect of a person and their family's life. Mental disorders do not discriminate; age, gender or color do not matter when it comes to mental illness. Many people live with different types of mental health problems. These problems can be anxiety, drug or alcohol addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder, and personality and mood disorders. People can suffer from one or more of these conditions. Treatment options are available, but unfortunately treatable mental illnesses go untreated. Many people feel ashamed or simply don't realize the help available to them. In recent decades there have been substantial changes in the care of people with mental disorders, but even with all the technology, science and a better understanding of what mental illness is, improving the lives of people with mental illness is still insufficient. One disorder seems to be making its way to the forefront of all the different disorders out there. Bipolar disorder. Statistics say that by 2020, bipolar disorder will be the number two health disorder, right after heart disease (Reilly 224). We can teach society about this disorder and educate people about the roller coaster of emotions related to bipolar and the treatment available to them to help ease some of the burden on bipolar patients and their loved ones. There is hope! Bipolar is a disorder that affects the brain, to what extent is not yet clear. Bipolar disorder was, and sometimes still is, called manic depression. A person with bipolar disorder will experience clinical depression…middle of paper…the day never comes. I will be by his side and do whatever it takes to make sure he has a happy and healthy life. Work Cited-Healy David. Mania: A Brief History of Bipolar Disorder. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. 2008. Print-Hornbacher Marya. Madness: a bipolar life. Sailor's books. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Boston. 2008. Print-Lieberman JA, Stroup TS, McEvoy JP, Swartz MS, Rosenheck RA, Perkins DO, Keefe RS, Davis SM, Davis CE, Lebowitz BD, Severe J, Hsiao JK. Effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia. N English J Med. 2005. Web.-Nydeggere Rudy. Understanding and treating depression. Praeger Publishers. 2008: 67-73. Print-Reilly Philip. Is it in your genes? Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. 2004: 223-228. Print-that ME. Bipolar disorder therapy: maintenance treatment. Biopsychiatry. 2000: 573-581. Press