Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:795-797
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
Correlates of stress reactivity in patients with bipolar disorder
J Swendsen, C Hammen, T Heller and M Gitlin
Department of Psychology, UCLA 90024-1563, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The authors examined individual differences in stress reactivity
as well as whether features of the illness itself or psychological
characteristics differentiate between patients with bipolar disorder who
are highly stress reactive and those who are not. METHOD: They assessed
stressors and bipolar episodes in 58 patients with bipolar disorder
followed for at least 1 year. RESULTS: Not only did stress level predict
relapse, so did personality variables such as introversion and
obsessionality and their interaction with stress. Number of previous
episodes of bipolar illness, however, did not affect stress response.
CONCLUSIONS: These results are not consistent with the view that episodes
of bipolar disorder become increasingly independent of stressors after
initial episodes. However, psychological traits may affect reactivity to
stressors.
