26th May 2015 - Bipolar Awareness Day JOHANNESBURG – It is estimated that three quarters of South Africans with mental illnesses will never receive any treatment. Bipolar Awareness Day attempts to bring the obstacles of those who suffer from the disorder to the fore. Bipolar Disorder, also known as manic depressive illness, is categorised by extreme shifts in mood, energy and functioning. A person may be depressed one week, and then excitable and sleepless the next. Julian Turner shares his story of battling bipolar and how it almost ended tragically last year when he threw himself off a cliff in KwaZulu-Natal. He'd been misdiagnosed with an anxiety disorder six years before. Miraculously, he survived with very few physical scars, but a lot of emotional damage. *Watch the video in the gallery above for the full story. - eNCA