According to data from a national survey of more than 34,000 adults, those with bipolar are just as likely to develop anxiety as depression following an episode of mania. This finding was published today in Molecular Psychiatry.
An estimated 5.7 million Americans have bipolar disorder, a serious mental illness that has been characterized by recurrent periods of mania and depression. Because mania, which involves having an elevated or irritable mood, and depression are mood disturbances, bipolar disorder is considered a type of mood disorder.
“Although it has long been widely assumed that bipolar disorder represents repeated episodes of mania and depression as poles along a single continuum of mood, the clinical reality is often far more complex,” said Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, professor of psychiatry at Columbia Medical Center, and lead author of the report. “The link between mania and anxiety suggests that patients whose main symptom is anxiety should be carefully assessed for a history of mania before starting treatment.”
A broader clinical definition of bipolar disorder that includes episodes of mania along with anxiety or depression might lead to earlier identification of individuals with bipolar disorder and different approaches to treatment.
“For years, we have missed opportunities to evaluate the effects of treatments for bipolar disorder on anxiety,” said Dr. Olfson. “The results of our study suggest that researchers should begin to ask whether, and to what extent, treatments for bipolar disorder relieve anxiety as well as mania and depression.”
sciencedaily.com
May 3, 2016