More than three quarters of respondents with 12-month BPD
reported severe or moderate MDEs and about half of the respondents reported severe or moderate manic/hypomanic episodes,demonstrating the serious nature of BPD. Correspondingly about half of those reported very severe/severe impairment in role functioning. About 1 in 9 of those with a 12-month BPD had attempted suicide, further attesting to the high disability associated with the disorder. Despite the severe nature of the illness only 35.3% of those with lifetime BPD had ever sought professional help for their problems; while 7.1% of those with 12-month BPD were on mood stabilizers. The low rate of patients prescribed mood stabilizers which is the standard treatment for BPD is a cause of concern and requires further exploration as would cases of inappropriate medication like the use of antidepressant with out mood stabilizers with the attendant risk (Birnbaum et al.,2003). Merikangas et al. (2007) reported a much higher rate of
appropriate treatment in the US population, where 25% of those with BP-I and 15.4% of those with BP-II were on appropriate treatment.