Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
13 papers
Researchers reviewed records from 1,130 people with bipolar disorder seen at a mood-disorders center. They found that depressive episodes lasted much longer than manic episodes, and that episode length was similar across bipolar subtypes (BD-I, BD-II, mixed, or with psychosis). The authors say this pattern — more and longer depressions…
This review looks at cognitive remediation (CR), which are training methods meant to improve thinking skills in people with psychiatric disorders. It notes that thinking problems are common and hurt daily life. Over the past 50 years the evidence for CR has grown, with the clearest support for treating schizophrenia…
This 2017 clinical review explains how bipolar I and II disorders are diagnosed and treated. It says bipolar illness involves swings between manic (or hypomanic) and depressive episodes. Treatment usually needs both medicines and psychosocial therapy, and care must be adjusted over time because relapses and incomplete responses — especially…
This small, single-centre study of 50 caregivers found that the amount of burden felt by caregivers of people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) was about the same as for caregivers of people with schizophrenia. Caregivers who had a high burden were more likely to report anxiety, depression, and worse quality…
Long-term MRI studies show that people with bipolar disorder often have unusual brain changes over time, but the pattern is mixed and not fully clear. Some studies link manic episodes to faster thinning and volume loss in parts of the prefrontal cortex. A large multi-site study (307 patients, 925 controls,…
This paper reviewed 12 factor-analysis studies of mania that together included 3,039 adult patients assessed by clinicians. The authors found that mania has several dimensions rather than a single core symptom. Hyperactivity, increased speech, and thought disorder tended to be the clearest core features. Mood symptoms (elevated or irritable mood)…
This systematic review looked for events that can trigger sudden mood episodes in people with bipolar disorder. The authors examined 108 studies published up to May 23, 2022. They found the strongest evidence that antidepressant use is linked to manic or hypomanic episodes. Other reported triggers for mania included brain…
This systematic review looked at studies that followed people with borderline personality disorder after they finished dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). The authors found 10 articles from 7 primary studies and reported that benefits of DBT generally lasted through at least 1 year and, in some reports, up to 2 years…
This paper reviews studies of genes and epigenetics in panic disorder. Family, twin, and adoption studies show panic disorder often runs in families. Researchers have found some candidate genes (for example NPY, ADORA2A, COMT, IKBKE), but panic disorder is not a single-gene disease. Large genome-wide studies did not find any…
This study used nationwide Danish health records to compare 979 people with bipolar depression who had just been discharged from a psychiatric ward. Of these, 358 received antidepressants and 621 did not. The researchers followed everyone for 1 year and, after adjusting for baseline factors, found no statistically significant increase…
Researchers interviewed 12 adults with bipolar I disorder who were well and not currently manic. Patients usually remembered their manic episodes vividly, but memories often had gaps and felt changed by later problems. The study found that stopping medication was more often linked to losing insight during a manic state…
This Japanese study looked at 2,231 outpatients with bipolar disorder and found that 29.1% had a manic or hypomanic episode within one year. Lower functioning (lower GAF score), rapid cycling, a coexisting personality disorder, bipolar I diagnosis, substance abuse, and being in a manic or mixed mood at the start…
