Bipolar Disorder: Comorbidity with Other Mental Disorders

Abstract

Failure to diagnose bipolar disorder (BD) in time leads to an increase in suicide risk, worse prognosis of the disease, and an increase in the socioeconomic burden. Aim: to assess the incidence of comorbidity of bipolar disorder (BD) and other mental and behavioral disorders, as well as the sequence of formation of this multimorbidity. Patients and methods: in the Affective States Department of the Mental Health Research Institute TNRMC, 121 patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder were selected for the study group according to the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria. The predominance of women in the study group was revealed (n = 83; 68.6%; p < 0.01). Median age of male patients was 36 [30; 54] years, for females — 47 [34; 55] years. Results: data were obtained on a high level of comorbidity in the study group: in 46.3% of patients, BD was combined with another mental disorder. It was found that personality disorders as a comorbid disorder in type I bipolar disorder are less common than in type II bipolar disorder. Gender differences were found in the incidence of anxiety-phobic spectrum and substance use disorders in bipolar disorder. The features of the chronology of the development of bipolar disorder and associated mental disorders have been revealed. Conclusion: in the case of bipolar disorder, there is a high likelihood of comorbidity with other mental disorders. Certain patterns in the chronology of the formation of comorbid relationships between BD and concomitant mental and behavioral disorders were revealed.