scholarly journals Psychological symptoms during and after Austrian first lockdown in individuals with bipolar disorder? A follow-up control-group investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Dalkner ◽  
Jolana Wagner-Skacel ◽  
Michaela Ratzenhofer ◽  
Frederike Fellendorf ◽  
Melanie Lenger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Brief Symptom Inventory ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Bipolar Patients

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a global health crisis, has resulted in widespread socioeconomic restrictions including lockdown, social distancing, and self-isolation. To date, little is known about the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on patients with bipolar disorder as a particularly vulnerable group. Methods An online survey was conducted in Austria at two points of measurement (T1 April 2020 during the first lockdown vs. T2 May 2020 at post-lockdown). The sample comprises 20 patients with bipolar disorder (mean age = 49.4 ± 15.6 years) and 20 healthy controls (mean age = 32.7 ± 9.6 years). A 2 × 2 factorial design to compare two time points (T1 vs. T2) and two groups (patients vs. healthy controls) was used. Main outcome measures included the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) and a (non-validated and non-standardized) assessment to determine COVID-19 fears and emotional distress due to social distancing. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the longitudinal association of COVID-19 fears/emotional distress due to social distancing during lockdown (T1) and psychological symptoms after lockdown (T2). Results At T1, results demonstrated higher scores in BSI-18 subscales depression, anxiety and global severity index as well as emotional distress due to social distancing in bipolar patients compared to controls. There was a significant time x group interaction in the BSI-18 subscale somatization showing a decreasing trend in patients with BD compared to controls. No time effects in BSI-18 subscales or COVID-19 fears/emotional distress due to social distancing were observed. Regression analyses showed that COVID-19 fears during lockdown predicted somatization, only in patients. Conclusions There was a connection between the lockdown measures and somatization symptoms observed in patients. When the first steps of easing the social restrictions in May 2020 took place, somatization decreased only in the bipolar compared to the control group. Higher COVID-19 fears during lockdown predicted later symptoms at post-lockdown. Long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic need further investigations to improve current therapeutic approaches and prevent fears and distress during lockdown in individuals with bipolar disorder in times of crisis.

Abnormal white matter integrity as a structural endophenotype for bipolar disorder

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 1547-1558 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sarıçiçek ◽  
N. Zorlu ◽  
N. Yalın ◽  
C. Hıdıroğlu ◽  
B. Çavuşoğlu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Clinical State ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Type I ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Corona Radiata ◽  
Left Posterior ◽  
Axis I ◽  
Bipolar Patients

BackgroundSeveral lines of evidence suggest that bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with white matter (WM) pathology. Investigation of unaffected first-degree relatives of BD patients may help to distinguish structural biomarkers of genetic risk without the confounding effects of burden of illness, medication or clinical state. In the present study, we applied tract-based spatial statistics to study WM changes in patients with BD, unaffected siblings and controls.MethodA total of 27 euthymic patients with BD type I, 20 unaffected siblings of bipolar patients and 29 healthy controls who did not have any current or past diagnosis of Axis I psychiatric disorders were enrolled in the study.ResultsFractional anisotropy (FA) was significantly lower in BD patients than in the control group in the corpus callosum, fornix, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, anterior thalamic radiation, posterior thalamic radiation, cingulum, uncinate fasciculus, superior corona radiata, anterior corona radiata and left external capsule. In region-of-interest (ROI) analyses, we found that both unaffected siblings and bipolar patients had significantly reduced FA in the left posterior thalamic radiation, the left sagittal stratum, and the fornix compared with healthy controls. Average FA for unaffected siblings was intermediate between the healthy controls and bipolar patients within these ROIs.ConclusionsDecreased FA in the fornix, left posterior thalamic radiation and left sagittal stratum in both bipolar patients and unaffected siblings may represent a potential structural endophenotype or a trait-based marker for BD.

scholarly journals Use of Dermatoglyphic Parameters as Possible Markers in Bipolar Affective Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 385-393
Author(s):  
Amit Kumar Pal ◽  
Sagarika Ray ◽  
Jishnu Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Bipolar Affective Disorder ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Ridge Count ◽  
Primordial Prevention ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Bipolar Patients

Background: Bipolar affective disorder is an episodic illness characterized by fluctuating mood states. Association of dermatoglyphic traits with bipolar affective disorder has been observed in various studies. This study was undertaken to evaluate epidermal ridge patterns in bipolar patients as compared to healthy controls attending a super speciality district hospital in West Bengal. Context and purpose of study: Establishing dermatoglyphic parameters as biomarkers for early diagnosis and consequently, prompt intervention in bipolar affective disorder will ensure a greater scope of recovery, and thus promote a better quality of life for the individual as well as lower the burden of disease for the society. Methods: Quantitative dermatoglyphic parameters namely, Total Finger Ridge Count (TFRC), Total A-B Ridge Count (TABRC), and ATD Angle of 100 bipolar patients were compared to 100 age and gender matched healthy controls. Results: Statistically significant differences were found on comparing the dermatoglyphic parameters between cases and controls. TFRC was found to be decreased while ATD angle was increased in bipolar cases, as compared to the control group. However, no significant change was observed in TABRC between the two groups. Conclusions: This study found a significant association between dermatoglyphic pattern anomalies and the development of bipolarity. This may offer a scope of primordial prevention of bipolar disorder in future. Key words: Dermatoglyphics, ridge pattern, bipolar disorder, Total Finger Ridge Count (TFRC), Total A-B Ridge Count (TABRC), ATD angle.

Absence and size of massa intermedia in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 193-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meltem Ceyhan ◽  
Baki Adapınar ◽  
Gokay Aksaray ◽  
Figen Ozdemir ◽  
Ertugrul Colak
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Gender Difference ◽  
Sagittal Plane ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Images ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Specific Alteration ◽  
Bipolar Patients

Objective:To evaluate the absence and size of massa intermedia (MI), a midline thalamic structure, and its gender-specific alteration in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.Methods:Thirty-five patients with schizophrenia (17 females and 18 males), 21 patients with bipolar disorder (15 females and 6 males) and 89 healthy controls (50 females and 39 males) were evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging. Thin-slice magnetic resonance images of the brain were evaluated. MI was determined in coronal and sagittal images, and area of the MI was measured on the sagittal plane.Results:Females had a significantly lower incidence of absent MI compared with males in the healthy control group. The absence of MI in schizophrenia and bipolar patients was not higher than the incidence in healthy controls. The size of MI showed a gender difference. The mean MI area size was smaller in female schizophrenia patients than in female controls, while no significant difference was observed between male schizophrenia patients and their controls.Conclusions:The size of MI, a gender difference midline structure, is smaller in females with schizophrenia, and the results of this study support other studies of structural aberration of the thalamus and other midline structures in the brains of patients with schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Response Processes to Looming Appetitive and Aversive Cues in Euthymic Bipolar Patients and Their First-Degree Relatives: An Exploratory Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 025371762097528
Author(s):  
Velprashanth Venkatesan ◽  
Christoday R J Khess ◽  
Umesh Shreekantiah ◽  
Nishant Goyal ◽  
K. K. Kshitiz
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Sensitivity To Reward ◽  
Bipolar Group ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Vulnerability Model ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Appetitive Cues ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Bipolar Patients

Background: Patients with bipolar disorder demonstrate increased sensitivity to appetitive/rewarding stimuli even during euthymia. On presentation of arousing pictures, they show a peculiar response, suggesting heightened vigilance. While responding to looming arousing cues, studies show subjects with anxiety spectrum disorders exhibit increased reaction time (RT), explained by the “looming-vulnerability model.” This study aimed to investigate the responses to looming arousing cues in euthymic bipolar patients and their first-degree relatives, as compared to healthy controls. Method: A looming appetitive and aversive cue paradigm was designed for assessing the RT of patients to process appetitive and aversive cues. The behavioral inhibition/activation and sensitivity to reward/punishment amongst the groups were also assessed. Results: The bipolar group showed significantly longer RT to process appetitive cues irrespective of the looming condition. Aversive cues elicited significantly longer RT in both the bipolar group and in first-degree relatives, but only when presented with the looming condition. Significant looming bias was elicited in the bipolar group which suggested a particular cognitive style to looming cues. A composite measure of RT along with sensitivity to reward/punishment distinguishes the bipolar group and their first-degree relatives from the healthy controls. Conclusion: The looming vulnerability model may provide important insights for future exploration of cognitive endophenotypes in bipolar disorder.

scholarly journals Physical Health Profile and Associated Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Patients With Bipolar Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Dyg Sperling ◽  
Nina Dalkner ◽  
Christina Berndt ◽  
Eva Fleischmann ◽  
Michaela Ratzenhofer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Public Mental Health ◽  
Brief Symptom Inventory ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased psychological strain on public mental health and may impact behavioral, mental, and physical health, presumably with effects on patients with severe mental disorders. This study examines pandemic-related physical and mental health and (compensatory) behavioral changes, in patients with BD as compared to healthy control individuals.Method: Physical and mental health and self-reported changes in daily structure and behavior due to the pandemic were assessed using a self-constructed questionnaire and the brief symptom inventory (BSI) in Germany, Austria, and Denmark in individuals with BD and a healthy control group.Results: The present study included 118 individuals with BD and 215 healthy controls. Individuals with BD reported statistically significant higher physical risk burden, increased weight gain, more physical comorbidities, and a decrease in physical activity and they further reported higher rates of COVID-19 testing, had more worries concerning health, and experienced more anxiety but less social distancing.Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have a greater impact on physical health in individuals with BD than in healthy controls. Individuals with BD appear to be having more difficulties compensating their behavior due to the pandemic which could amplify the effect of risk factors associated with poorer physical health. This highlights the necessity for optimizing and targeting the overall treatment of both mental and physical health in patients with BD during periods with far-reaching changes such as the COVID-19 pandemic.Limitations: Sampling issues and self-report forms, selectivity (missing elderly, and those lacking access or knowledge of technology).

scholarly journals Event-related potential examination of facial affect processing in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Wynn ◽  
C. Jahshan ◽  
L. L. Altshuler ◽  
D. C. Glahn ◽  
M. F. Green
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Facial Affect ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Patient Groups ◽  
Bipolar Patients ◽  
Affect Processing

BackgroundPatients with bipolar disorder exhibit consistent deficits in facial affect identification at both behavioral and neural levels. However, little is known about which stages of facial affect processing are dysfunctional.MethodEvent-related potentials (ERPs), including amplitude and latency, were used to evaluate two stages of facial affect processing: N170 to examine structural encoding of facial features and N250 to examine decoding of facial features in 57 bipolar disorder patients, 30 schizophrenia patients and 30 healthy controls. Three conditions were administered: participants were asked to identify the emotion of a face, the gender of a face, or whether a building was one or two stories tall.ResultsSchizophrenia patients' emotion identification accuracy was lower than that of bipolar patients and healthy controls. N170 amplitude was significantly smaller in schizophrenia patients compared to bipolar patients and healthy controls, which did not differ from each other. Both patient groups had significantly longer N170 latency compared to healthy controls. For N250, both patient groups showed significantly smaller amplitudes compared with controls, but did not differ from each other. Bipolar patients showed longer N250 latency than healthy controls; patient groups did not differ from each other.ConclusionsBipolar disorder patients have relatively intact structural encoding of faces (N170) but are impaired when decoding facial features for complex judgments about faces (N250 latency and amplitude), such as identifying emotion or gender.

scholarly journals Increased oxidative stress as a mechanism for decreased BDNF levels in acute manic episodes

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flávio Kapczinski ◽  
Benício N Frey ◽  
Ana C Andreazza ◽  
Márcia Kauer-Sant'Anna ◽  
Ângelo B M Cunha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Neurotrophic Factor ◽  
Thiobarbituric Acid ◽  
Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor ◽  
Oxidative Status ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances ◽  
Low Levels

OBJECTIVE AND METHOD: There is a growing amount of data indicating that alterations in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and increased oxidative stress may play a role in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. In light of recent evidence demonstrating that brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels are decreased in situations of increased oxidative stress, we have examined the correlation between serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, a measure of lipid peroxidation, and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in bipolar disorder patients during acute mania and in healthy controls. RESULTS: Serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels were negatively correlated in bipolar disorder patients (r = -0.56; p = 0.001), whereas no significant correlation was observed in the control group.. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that alterations in oxidative status may be mechanistically associated with abnormal low levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor observed in individuals with bipolar disorder.

Adjunctive Treatment with Gabapentin in Bipolar Patients during Acute Mania

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Nazeri Astaneh ◽  
Omid Rezaei
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Acute Mania ◽  
Adjunctive Treatment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Case Group ◽  
Final Score ◽  
Bipolar Patients ◽  
And Control

Objective: In this clinical trial, we studied the effects of adjunctive treatment with gabapentin in controlling the symptoms of acute mania in patients admitted with bipolar disorder. Method: Sixty patients with bipolar disorder (30 men and 30 women) admitted in the acute phase of mania were categorized as case and control groups, each holding 30 patients. Both groups were treated with lithium for 6 weeks and the case group received an adjunctive treatment with 900 mg gabapentin simultaneously. All patients were evaluated at the beginning and the end of the trial using Young's Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), and two groups were compared for improvement in acute symptoms. Findings: The final score of YMRS was significantly improved in the case group compared to the control group ( p = 0.00). The improvement of YMRS score was not significantly different between men and women and between different age groups. Conclusion: Adjunctive treatment with gabapentin is effective for controlling symptoms of acute mania.

scholarly journals Pareidolia in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eid G. Abo Hamza ◽  
Szabolcs Kéri ◽  
Katalin Csigó ◽  
Dalia Bedewy ◽  
Ahmed A. Moustafa
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Black And White ◽  
The Face ◽  
Noise Test ◽  
Bipolar Patients ◽  
Blurred Images ◽  
Human Faces ◽  
First Time

While there are many studies on pareidolia in healthy individuals and patients with schizophrenia, to our knowledge, there are no prior studies on pareidolia in patients with bipolar disorder. Accordingly, in this study, we, for the first time, measured pareidolia in patients with bipolar disorder (N = 50), and compared that to patients with schizophrenia (N = 50) and healthy controls (N = 50). We have used (a) the scene test, which consists of 10 blurred images of natural scenes that was previously found to produce illusory face responses and (b) the noise test which had 32 black and white images consisting of visual noise and 8 images depicting human faces; participants indicated whether a face was present on these images and to point to the location where they saw the face. Illusory responses were defined as answers when observers falsely identified objects that were not on the images in the scene task (maximum illusory score: 10), and the number of noise images in which they reported the presence of a face (maximum illusory score: 32). Further, we also calculated the total pareidolia score for each task (the sum number of images with illusory responses in the scene and noise tests). The responses were scored by two independent raters with an excellent congruence (kappa > 0.9). Our results show that schizophrenia patients scored higher on pareidolia measures than both healthy controls and patients with bipolar disorder. Our findings are agreement with prior findings on more impaired cognitive processes in schizophrenia than in bipolar patients.

scholarly journals Impact of Wearing Masks, Hand Hygiene, and Social Distancing on Influenza, Enterovirus, and All-Cause Pneumonia During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Retrospective National Epidemiological Surveillance Study

10.2196/21257 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. e21257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan-Chang Chiu ◽  
Hsin Chi ◽  
Yu-Lin Tai ◽  
Chun-Chih Peng ◽  
Cheng-Yin Tseng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Impact

Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an important health crisis worldwide. Several strategies were implemented to combat COVID-19, including wearing masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing. The impact of these strategies on COVID-19 and other viral infections remains largely unclear. Objective We aim to investigate the impact of implemented infectious control strategies on the incidences of influenza, enterovirus infection, and all-cause pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We utilized the electronic database of the Taiwan National Infectious Disease Statistics System and extracted incidences of COVID-19, influenza virus, enterovirus, and all-cause pneumonia. We compared the incidences of these diseases from week 45 of 2016 to week 21 of 2020 and performed linear regression analyses. Results The first case of COVID-19 in Taiwan was reported in late January 2020 (week 4). Infectious control strategies have been promoted since late January. The influenza virus usually peaks in winter and decreases around week 14. However, a significant decrease in influenza was observed after week 6 of 2020. Regression analyses produced the following results: 2017, R2=0.037; 2018, R2=0.021; 2019, R2=0.046; and 2020, R2=0.599. A dramatic decrease in all-cause pneumonia was also reported (R2 values for 2017-2020 were 0.435, 0.098, 0.352, and 0.82, respectively). Enterovirus had increased by week 18 in 2017-2019, but this was not observed in 2020. Conclusions Using this national epidemiological database, we found a significant decrease in cases of influenza, enterovirus, and all-cause pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wearing masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing may contribute not only to the prevention of COVID-19 but also to the decline of other respiratory infectious diseases. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the causal relationship.

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