Factors predisposing to the onset of bipolar disorder: a 30‐year longitudinal study
Author(s)
Tyrer, Peter
Yang, Min
Tyrer, Helen
Malhi, Gin
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objective
To examine the factors that predict the development of bipolar disorder in a population presenting with anxiety and depressive disorders.
Method
In a 30-year study, the Nottingham Study of Neurotic Disorder, the personality status, life events, service data, and early course of patients recruited to a randomised controlled trial were compared in patients who developed bipolar pathology and those who had no bipolar symptoms.
Results
Over 30 years, 5 (2.5%) of 200 patients assessed at baseline developed unequivocal bipolar disorder, one within the first 10 weeks of the study, and three (1.5%) had bipolar II pathology. Analysis of these data showed that those patients who had some degree of bipolarity had an increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms and general psychopathology, most pronounced in the second year of the study, that was not found with patients who had no bipolar pathology.
Conclusions
Patients treated for anxiety and depressive disorders who remain unwell after initial treatment are more at risk of developing bipolar disorder than others.
To examine the factors that predict the development of bipolar disorder in a population presenting with anxiety and depressive disorders.
Method
In a 30-year study, the Nottingham Study of Neurotic Disorder, the personality status, life events, service data, and early course of patients recruited to a randomised controlled trial were compared in patients who developed bipolar pathology and those who had no bipolar symptoms.
Results
Over 30 years, 5 (2.5%) of 200 patients assessed at baseline developed unequivocal bipolar disorder, one within the first 10 weeks of the study, and three (1.5%) had bipolar II pathology. Analysis of these data showed that those patients who had some degree of bipolarity had an increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms and general psychopathology, most pronounced in the second year of the study, that was not found with patients who had no bipolar pathology.
Conclusions
Patients treated for anxiety and depressive disorders who remain unwell after initial treatment are more at risk of developing bipolar disorder than others.
Date Issued
2025-06-01
Date Acceptance
2025-03-22
Citation
Bipolar Disorders, 2025, 27 (4), pp.310-315
ISSN
1398-5647
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
310
End Page
315
Journal / Book Title
Bipolar Disorders
Volume
27
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Bipolar Disorders published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40152415
Subjects
bipolar disorder
long‐term outcome
mixed anxiety‐depression
prediction
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Denmark
Date Publish Online
2025-03-28