Warns of depression with a bracelet – NRK Vestland

The researchers at Helse Bergen and the University of Oslo have managed something that researchers have been trying to do for many years.

Based on changes in the movement pattern, they can now see when a person with bipolar disorder will have an episode of illness.

– Two weeks before the attack, we can announce that it is coming. Then it is possible for the patient to take action to avoid the very worst, says Petter Jakobsen at the Psychiatric Clinic in Sandviken in Bergen.

Have managed to identify the signal

It is like a heart rate monitor, but measures the movements of the person wearing it on their arm.

The tiny device is also the key to being able to understand more about how the energy in the body changes when something is about to happen in the brain.

On the screen in Jakobsen’s office at the hospital, he can read from the movement pattern how the condition is in the mind of a patient.

– Manic, symptom-free and depressed. This is how the researcher describes the three graphs taken from three different days on the same person.

– We have managed to identify the signal from the brain that says something about what will happen.

The deep darkness

There are a total of fifty samples from patients who have used the motion detector and participated in Jakobsen’s research project.

Between them is Svein Nygaard. He has lived with bipolar disorder all his life.

– There are high peaks, and enormously deep valleys, says the man who has become an experienced consultant and himself works in psychiatry.

– When I am far down, it is so black that it is difficult for people to understand

Experts believe that around one to 2 percent of everyone in Norway has a bipolar disorder. The group is greatly overrepresented in the suicide statistics.

– This will mean a lot to those with the diagnosis, Nygaard believes.

– Such diseases do not appear on an X-ray.

The 70-year-old says that it is very individual what action you need and take if you know that depression is on the way.

For some, it can be exercise, socializing or activities that make you happy. For others, it may be about calling in sick or taking medication.

Patent and possible revolution

Researcher Petter Jakobsen says there has been enormous international attention after the results were published in a well-known journal.

They have applied for a patent on the method. Not only to detect seizures in bipolar patients, but also for those diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia.

Jakobsen points out that they need to do more research. The method must be tested on several people.

But the results are so promising that Jakobsen dares to believe that this is a breakthrough.

– It is an aid for people to take control of their lives. I would describe it as revolutionary for those with bipolar disorders.