Understanding the Link Between Anxiety Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors in Outpatients With Bipolar Disorder

A range of anxiety symptoms were examined in 98 patients with bipolar disorder. It was predicted each anxiety dimension would be linked to greater suicide ideation & behaviour, greater depressive rumination, & poorer emotional processing & expression. Each anxiety dimension except fear of negative evaluation was associated with a greater score on suicide ideation, greater rumination, & lower levels of emotional processing. Emotional processing emerged as protective against suicide ideation & behaviours in men only. Emotional expression was a significant predictor of lower scores for suicide ideation for women & for the full sample. (45 refs.)