Stigmatization of individuals with mental illnesses is widespread and serves as a major barrier to treatment. Specific alterations in mental health literacy about a disorder and its perceived treatability can change this social attitude. Assessing awareness of bipolar disorder is important as the WHO ranked bipolar disorder as the sixth cause of disability.

To assess mental health literacy (knowledge, attitudes and beliefs) in bipolar disorder among Saudi population.

Cross sectional study is currently conducted. We are using valid reliable questionnaire assessing the level of awareness, knowledge, attitude and behavior toward bipolar disorder. It is distributed to adult Saudi citizen (> 17 years of age) in malls, university and hospitals in Riyadh. People who are known to have psychiatric disorder and their caregivers or who works as psychiatrists and psychologists are excluded.

There are 200 samples collected, and 14 were excluded according to exclusion criteria. Fifty-two percent of our preliminary sample has heard about bipolar disorder, and more than half of them believe that neurotransmitter disturbances, substance use and psychological trauma are more likely to be causes of bipolar. In contrast, 49% of the sample did not choose psychiatric medication as effective treatment for bipolar, whereas more than half of them chose praying.

It is a first-of-its-kind research study in Saudi Arabia determining the current mental health literacy of bipolar disorder in Saudi Arabia. We are aiming to increase the sample size to reach 1000 participants. Further study will be needed to investigate possible interventions to improve such problem.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.