Perception of physical health may affect course of illness in bipolar patients

Bipolar disorder patients’ perceptions of their overall physical health can predict the severity of their functioning over the next 2 years, according to research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Analyzing longitudinal data from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder on the physical subscales of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, Emily Bernstein and her colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston found that individuals with more negative views of their physical well-being tended to have more severe mood symptoms and worse functioning across 2 years of observation. “Perceptions of role limitations due to physical health problems predicted depressive symptoms and poor life satisfaction, while worse bodily pain predicted symptoms of mania and hypomania,” the authors wrote. Physical functioning was not a significant predictor of clinical outcomes.

“These data suggest that addressing broad attitudes or thoughts about physical health is important in treating individuals with bipolar disorder as subjective perceptions seem to impact course of illness,” Dr. Bernstein and her colleagues wrote. Introducing stress management or relaxation training into treatments for bipolar disorder could help reduce patients’ sensations of pain and their consequences for course of illness, particularly mania and hypomania, the investigators said. Psychotherapy also could play a beneficial role for such patients “in targeting and modifying the way they think about their health.”

Read the article in the Journal of Affective Disorders (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.09.052).

Bipolar disorder patients’ perceptions of their overall physical health can predict the severity of their functioning over the next 2 years, according to research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Analyzing longitudinal data from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder on the physical subscales of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, Emily Bernstein and her colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston found that individuals with more negative views of their physical well-being tended to have more severe mood symptoms and worse functioning across 2 years of observation. “Perceptions of role limitations due to physical health problems predicted depressive symptoms and poor life satisfaction, while worse bodily pain predicted symptoms of mania and hypomania,” the authors wrote. Physical functioning was not a significant predictor of clinical outcomes.

“These data suggest that addressing broad attitudes or thoughts about physical health is important in treating individuals with bipolar disorder as subjective perceptions seem to impact course of illness,” Dr. Bernstein and her colleagues wrote. Introducing stress management or relaxation training into treatments for bipolar disorder could help reduce patients’ sensations of pain and their consequences for course of illness, particularly mania and hypomania, the investigators said. Psychotherapy also could play a beneficial role for such patients “in targeting and modifying the way they think about their health.”

Read the article in the Journal of Affective Disorders (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.09.052).

Bipolar disorder patients’ perceptions of their overall physical health can predict the severity of their functioning over the next 2 years, according to research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Analyzing longitudinal data from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder on the physical subscales of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, Emily Bernstein and her colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston found that individuals with more negative views of their physical well-being tended to have more severe mood symptoms and worse functioning across 2 years of observation. “Perceptions of role limitations due to physical health problems predicted depressive symptoms and poor life satisfaction, while worse bodily pain predicted symptoms of mania and hypomania,” the authors wrote. Physical functioning was not a significant predictor of clinical outcomes.

“These data suggest that addressing broad attitudes or thoughts about physical health is important in treating individuals with bipolar disorder as subjective perceptions seem to impact course of illness,” Dr. Bernstein and her colleagues wrote. Introducing stress management or relaxation training into treatments for bipolar disorder could help reduce patients’ sensations of pain and their consequences for course of illness, particularly mania and hypomania, the investigators said. Psychotherapy also could play a beneficial role for such patients “in targeting and modifying the way they think about their health.”

Read the article in the Journal of Affective Disorders (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.09.052).