EastEnders story has encouraged bipolar sufferers to seek advise
During the last six months the number of 18 to 24 year olds seeking help for bipolar disorder has doubled, reported BBC Radio One.
Before one of the nations favourite soaps tackled the issue of bipolar using popular character Stacey Slater to highlight the disorder it was a subject which many new very little about.
However, since the storyline in BBC One soap EastEnders began the number of young people calling helplines rocketed from around 400 a day to an average of more than 800.
Affecting more than half a million people in the UK, the mental disorder is characterized by stages of feeling very low and depressed to extreme high known as manias and is most common in those ages between 18 and 24.
EastEnders star Lacey Turner has won several awards for her portrayal of bipolar sufferer stacey slater. She admitted that she had never even heard of the illness before her character developed it.
MDF The bipolar organisation have said that having a complex bipolar issue put in front of eight million viewers for times a week can only increase public health education.
The Bipolar Disorder Research Network said that during the EastEnders episode where Stacey was revealed to have bipolar they had 8,536 visitors to their website within 48 hours.
It is hoped that as the storyline continues the stigma around mental illness will continue to shift and hopefully more and more people will come forward for help.