Both Mental And Physical Quality Of Life Affected By Bipolar Disorder

Main Category: Bipolar
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs;  Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 29 Oct 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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This press release is available in French and Spanish.

A study carried out in the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Granada (Spain) and the Mental Health Unit of the Hospital Neurotraumatológico of Jaen (Spain) has evaluated the quality of life of patients suffering from bipolar disorder (BD), compared to the general population, and which variables are associated with a lower quality of life. Some of the results of this research have been included in a scientific paper in the renowned international journal Bipolar Disorders.

To carry out this work, UGR researchers Luis Gutiérrez Rojas and Manuel Gurpegui Fernández de Legaria, together with other scientists, analysed 108 patients with BD, against a comparative group made up of 1,210 persons from a general population sample. Among the group of patients, 48 were euthymic, that is, without active symptoms of the disease; the remaining 60 patients (non-euthymic) presented relevant symptoms during the evaluation.

BD, known in the past as manic-depressive psychosis, affects approximately 3 in every 100 people and consists of suffering recurrent depression episodes (depressive phases) alternating with periods of euphoria (manic phases). The patients swing intensely (usually in weeks or months) from happiness to sadness, besides enjoying periods of normality (euthymia).

A lower quality of physical life

The scientists from Granada have found out that, as expected, patients with BD present worse mental health than the general population; but, in addition, they have discovered that they have a poorer quality of life at a physical level. This could be due to a higher consumption of addictive substances such as alcohol and tobacco, the long-term secondary effects of the pharmacological treatment and a more sedentary way of life.

From this research we also gather that BD patients who suffer a lower quality of mental life are those who started suffering from the disease younger than 20 years old, who have been suffering it for a longer time, who suffer the II subtype of the disease, who are dependent on tobacco and who are suffering depressive symptoms at present. In addition, the researchers from Granada have proven that having good social support (such as that of the family) is connected with a better quality of life for the patient.

Their work has also made it clear that depressive symptoms (sadness, listlessness, tiredness, concentration difficulty, insomnia, poor appetite, etc.) have a higher impact on the quality of life than maniac symptoms (excessive self-esteem, lack on inhibition, verbosity, hyperactivity, increase of sexual appetite, etc.). And they also produce more disability or negative repercussion for working capacity and family and social life; this is probably because maniac symptoms are usually shorter in duration and have a good response to medication, whereas depressive ones are usually more difficult to eliminate.

A more active intervention

Luis Gutiérrez Rojas insists that there should be a more active intervention to help those people who present depressive symptoms or a high tobacco dependence. However, other variables which could seem less relevant, such as having a family history of the disease, having suffered many apisodes of the disorder or having carried out suicide attempts, are not variables significantly associated with a poor quality of life.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Source: Luis Gutiérrez Rojas
Universidad de Granada