Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Comorbidity in Bipolar Disorder The Complexity of Diagnosis and Treatment

The central tenet of clinical comorbidity, the occurrence of 2 syndromes in the same patient, presupposes that they are distinct categorical entities. By this definition, 2 or more coexisting syndromes do not negate one another, nor paradoxically does this coexistence negate the potential for one to influence the course, outcome, and treatment response of the other. Isolating a syndrome by characterizing it through a unique pathogenic process allows for diagnostic fidelity even while acknowledging overlapping phenotypes.

Bipolar disorder (BPD) is highly prevalent and heterogeneous. Its increasing complexity is often caused by the presence of comorbid conditions, which have become the rule rather than the exception. Lifetime prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity has been reported in community and clinical studies. Most (95%) of the respondents with BPD in the National Comorbidity Survey met criteria for 3 or more lifetime psychiatric disorders.1 In a Stanley Foundation Bipolar Treatment Outcome Network study of almost 300 patients, 65% met DSM-IV criteria for at least 1 comorbid Axis I disorder.2

Analogous to models in medicine (eg, cardiovascular disease), BPD incorporates psychiatric and medical comorbidities (Table) whose simultaneous treatment is equally pressing to the core mood disturbance.3 Checks and balances must be used to address the distressing comorbid condition (eg, anxiety) whose treatment with an SSRI or serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) may catalyze a round of mood cycling in an otherwise stable patient; a greater degree of protection via mood stabilizers may be warranted in such an individual to reduce this possibility.

Overall, the presence of comorbidities in BPD has negative prognostic implications for psychological health and for medical well-being and longevity.4-6 The most common comorbid conditions are reviewed below to help guide the clinician through this diagnostic maze and associated treatment considerations.

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