Bipolar Disorder: Open Access
Open Access

Medical ID Bracelets for Bipolar Disorder

Anam Syed^{* *}Correspondence: Anam Syed, India, Email:

Author info »

Introduction

Health warning jewelry or ID cards for certain medical conditions that can result in life-threatening emergencies, such as diabetes, cardiac attacks, and medication and food allergies, are probably familiar to you. Anyone with a longterm medical problem, including mental health conditions including bipolar disorder that can impair one's cognition, is exempt. Medical IDs should also be considered for those who take drugs on a daily basis. They have the potential to be life-saving assets.

Why Do People With Bipolar Disorder Wear Medical Alert Jewelry?

If you have bipolar disorder or another mental health illness, there are some good reasons to consider wearing medical alarm bracelets or necklaces. Here are a few examples:

1. In the case of an emergency, when you are unable to communicate or are unconscious, a medical ID may assist medical services in providing you with adequate and timely medical treatment.
2. If emergency services are treating patients (say, at the scene of a car accident or if you've dialed 911), they're trained to search for medical IDs, and medical warning jewelry automatically alerts them to your health condition. 
3. Medical warning jewelry can reduce the risk of treatment errors that can occur when doctors don't have a patient's medical records upon admission to the hospital
4. It is risky to combine psychiatric drugs with other types of medications;1 a patient ID may help avoid this form of dangerous medical mistake.

Types of Medical IDs

In a range of bracelets, charms and emblems, necklaces and dog tags, sports bands, cuffs, anklets, and even watches, anyone can find the right medical ID piece for them. It's important to note, however, that first responders can't use medical ID jewelry that they can't find, so make sure your medical ID jewelry is recognizable and distinguishable from everyday jewelry.

What to Include

Your personal information is normally identified or etched on the back of medical warning jewelry. It may include details like your medical condition, food or drug allergies, medications, and an emergency contact number.

Due to the small amount of space available on a jewelry symbol (usually just 3-5 lines of around 15 characters each), this detail must be concise. If you need more space, you might add a line to a piece of medical warning jewelry indicating that you have a medical ID card. Such instances are as follows:

1. Zoloft & Lithium
2. Allergy to Penicillin
3. Make contact with husband
4. Joe Smith
5. 888.555.1234
6. Panic Attacks
7. Food Allergies
8. Bipolar Disorder
9. See Wallet Card

Anything you can't suit on your medical alarm jewelry or tag can be written down on a medical ID card for easy access. Name, date of birth, address, phone numbers, emergency contacts, doctors' names and phone numbers, medical conditions, prescriptions, food and drug allergies, and the date it was printed are normally included. It may also disclose whether you're an organ donor or whether you've made a living will.

Some people want to enter a medical knowledge organization like MedicAlert as well. Their member identification number and a toll-free number to contact the company, which has an updated medical profile for them, are written on the back of their medical ID.