Maladaptive personality traits and the course of suicidal ideation in young adults with bipolar disorder: Cross-sectional and prospective approaches

Background Childhood-onset bipolar disorder (BD) has considerable morbidity and mortality, including suicide. Many risk factors have been identified for suicidality, but the potential role of personality traits as assessed by a computer-assisted self-report measure remains unclear. Aims To address this gap in knowledge, we tested relations between pathological-range personality traits and suicidal ideation among young […]

Psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder and their impact on the illness: A systematic review

BACKGROUND Lifetime psychotic symptoms are present in over half of the patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and can have an adverse effect on its course, outcome, and treatment. However, despite a considerable amount of research, the impact of psychotic symptoms on BD remains unclear, and there are very few systematic reviews on the subject. AIM […]

Understanding the development of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder in young people: A meta-review of systematic reviews

Background: There is ongoing debate on the nosological position of bipolar disorder (BD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Identifying the unique and shared risks, developmental pathways, and symptoms in emerging BD and BPD could help the field refine aetiological hypotheses and improve the prediction of the onset of these disorders. This study aimed to: (a) systematically […]

The association between variability, intensity, and persistence of suicidal ideation and prospective suicidal behavior in the systematic treatment enhancement program for bipolar disorder (STEP‑BD) study

Background This study sought to examine the association between prospective suicidal behavior and variability, intensity, and persistence of suicidal ideation (SI) in bipolar disorder (BD). Methods Data were drawn from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD), a naturalistic study of 4360 outpatients 15 years or older with BD. In separate models, logistic regressions […]

COVID‑19 lockdown – who cares? The first lockdown from the perspective of relatives of people with severe mental illness

Background Informal care is vital to many people with severe mental illness under normal circumstances. Little is known about how extraordinary circumstances affect relatives with a family member with mental illness. This study investigated the consequences of the first COVID-19 lockdown in Norway from the perspective of relatives of persons with psychotic- and/or bipolar disorders: […]

Exploration of mood spectrum symptoms during a major depressive episode: The impact of contrapolarity—Results from a transdiagnostic cluster analysis on an Italian sample of unipolar and bipolar patients

Background: Subthreshold hypomania during a major depressive episode challenges the bipolar-unipolar dichotomy. In our study we employed a cross-diagnostic cluster analysis – to identify distinct subgroups within a cohort of depressed patients. Methods: A k-means cluster analysis- based on the domain scores of the Mood Spectrum Self-Report (MOODS-SR) questionnaire-was performed on a data set of 300 adults […]

Association among early life stress, mood features, hopelessness and suicidal risk in bipolar disorder: The potential contribution of insomnia symptoms

Aim The study aimed to investigate the potential pathways mediating early exposure to stressful events and the clinical manifestations of bipolar disorder (BD), such as severity of mood symptoms, hopelessness and suicidal ideation, focusing on the potential role of insomnia symptoms. Method A sample of 162 adult participants with BD I or II were assessed during depressed phase […]

Lithium treatment of bipolar disorder in adults: A systematic review of randomized trials and meta-analyses

The aim of the study was to systematically review the hard evidence alone, concerning lithium efficacy separately for the phases and clinical facets of Bipolar disorder (BD). The PRISMA method was followed to search the MEDLINE for Randomized Controlled trials, Post-hoc analyses and Meta-analyses and review papers up to August 1st 2020, with the combination […]

Pharmacological and somatic treatment effects on suicide in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Suicide is a public health crisis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of psychopharmacologic and somatic therapies on suicide risk. Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE for studies evaluating the effects of pharmacologic (excluding antidepressants) or somatic interventions on suicide risk was conducted. Studies were included if they used a comparison group, […]

Lithium treatment in the prevention of repeat suicide-related outcomes in veterans with major depression or bipolar disorder: A randomized clinical trial

Objective: To assess whether lithium augmentation of usual care reduces the rate of repeated episodes of suicide-related events (repeated suicide attempts, interrupted attempts, hospitalizations to prevent suicide, and deaths from suicide) in participants with bipolar disorder or depression who have survived a recent event. Design, setting, and participants: This double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial assessed lithium vs […]

Variations in seasonal solar insolation are associated with a history of suicide attempts in bipolar I disorder

Background Bipolar disorder is associated with circadian disruption and a high risk of suicidal behavior. In a previous exploratory study of patients with bipolar I disorder, we found that a history of suicide attempts was associated with differences between winter and summer levels of solar insolation. The purpose of this study was to confirm this […]

The rapid anti-suicidal ideation effect of ketamine: A systematic review

In many countries suicide rates have been trending upwards for close to twenty years-presenting a public health crisis. Most suicide attempts and deaths are associated with psychiatric illness, usually a depressive disorder. Subanesthetic ketamine is the only FDA-approved antidepressant that works in hours not weeks-thus potentially transforming treatment of suicidal patients. We reviewed all randomized […]

Suicide reduction in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons informing national prevention strategies for suicide reduction

Objective: The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of federal, public health and social support programs on national suicide rates in Canada. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Canadian National Database (i.e., Statistics Canada) and Statista. Participants: Population-level data, and economic and consumer market data. Main outcome measures: Suicide mortality data, population data and unemployment data were obtained from […]

Assessment of suicide attempt and death in bipolar affective disorder: A combined clinical and genetic approach

Bipolar disorder (BP) suicide death rates are 10–30 times greater than the general population, likely arising from environmental and genetic risk factors. Though suicidal behavior in BP has been investigated, studies have not addressed combined clinical and genetic factors specific to suicide death. To address this gap, a large, harmonized BP cohort was assessed to […]

Regional lithium prescription rates and recurrence in bipolar disorder

Background Lithium is the best documented maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder, but its use varies considerably across and within countries. It is not known whether regional differences in lithium prescription rates translate to differing regional outcomes. Aims To estimate associations between county specific lithium prescription rates and county specific recurrence odds of bipolar disorder in […]

A comprehensive review of computer-aided diagnosis of major mental and neurological disorders and suicide: A biostatistical perspective on data mining

The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that mental disorders, neurological disorders, and suicide are growing causes of morbidity. Depressive disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias account for 1.84%, 0.60%, 0.33%, and 1.00% of total Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Furthermore, suicide, the 15th leading cause of death worldwide, could be linked to […]

The role of psychopathology in the relationship between history of maltreatment and suicide attempts among children and adolescent inpatients

Background This retrospective chart review study investigates the relationship between the history of various forms of abuse and the presence of mood disorders and psychotic symptoms in predicting suicide attempts among psychiatrically hospitalized children and adolescents. Method A multi‐mediation analysis was conducted with an archival dataset of 101 children and adolescents hospitalized predominantly for mood […]

Increased risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality in people with mental disorders: Analysis from electronic health records in the United States

Concerns have been expressed that persons with a pre‐existing mental disorder may represent a population at increased risk for COVID‐19 infection and with a higher likelihood of adverse outcomes of the infection, but there is no systematic research evidence in this respect. This study assessed the impact of a recent (within past year) diagnosis of […]

A naturalistic study of youth referred to a tertiary care facility for acute hypomanic or manic episode

Background: Bipolar Disorders (BD) in youth are a heterogeneous condition with different phenomenology, patterns of comorbidity and outcomes. Our aim was to explore the effects of gender; age at onset (prepubertal- vs. adolescent-onset) of BD; and elements associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) comorbidities, severe suicidal ideation or attempts, and […]

Interpersonal relationships and suicidal ideation in youth with bipolar disorder

This study examines how relationship quality in family and peer domains are associated with suicidal ideation (SI) in youth with bipolar disorder (BP). We assessed 404 Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth study participants for psychiatric disorders and SI at intake and for family/peer relationships the month after intake. Multivariate logistic regression examined associations between […]

Factors associated with single versus multiple suicide attempts in depressive disorders

Background Many risk factors for suicidal behavior have been identified. Much less has been done to associate risk factors with recurrence of suicidal behavior. Methods We compared prevalence of 30 potential risk factors among 8496 depressive patient-subjects from the BRIDGE consortium with no (NSA, n = 6267), one (1SA, n = 1123), or repeated (≥2) suicide attempts (RSA, n = 1106). Results Prevalence of […]

Suicidal ideation and insomnia in bipolar disorders

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) confers elevated suicide risk and associates with misaligned circadian rhythm. Real-time monitoring of objectively measured sleep is a novel approach to detect and prevent suicidal behavior. We aimed at understanding associations between subjective insomnia and actigraphy data with severity of suicidal ideation in BDs. Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised 76 […]

Suicide mortality and use of psychotropic drugs in patients hospitalized due to bipolar disorder: A Finnish nationwide cohort study

Background Knowledge on the comparative effectiveness of pharmacological treatments to prevent suicide mortality in bipolar disorder is still lacking. Methods We studied the risk of suicide mortality during 1996–2012 among all patients who had been hospitalized due to bipolar disorder in Finland (n = 18,018; mean follow-up time 7.2 years) using nation-wide databases. We used a Cox […]