Previous studies have suggested that collecting psychiatric data on relatives in family studies by asking probands to provide information on them leads to a bias in estimates of morbidity risk, because probands'accounts are influenced by their own psychiatric histories. We investigated this in a UK sample and found that daughters'anxiety disorder histories did not influence their reports of anx...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW To examine the influence of personality disorder comorbidity on the general treatment of mood disorders. RECENT FINDINGS Personality disorders generally have a negative influence on outcome of mood disorders, both unipolar and bipolar. When the personality features are addressed, however, the outcome is less negative. Recent studies suggest a special role for psychological a...

The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with fatigue in African American women with end stage renal disease. Twenty-seven of 36 women in the sample were fatigued. Correlations were found with mood disorder and fatigue (p < .001), social support and uremic malnutrition (p = .003), and anemia and fatigue (p = .012) and mood disorder (p = .039). Anemia, uremic malnutrition, moo...

OBJECTIVE To compare the clinical profile and pattern of catatonic symptoms of patients with schizophrenia and mood disorder. METHOD Records of 13,968 patients seen between 1983-1985 and 2003-2005 were reviewed for symptoms of catatonia by resident doctors in psychiatry. Cases in which the diagnosis were schizophrenia or mood disorder were then noted. Socio-demographic and clinical features w...

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic-depressive disorder, consists of often recurrent and severe mood episodes. Roughly 1% of children are diagnosed with bipolar disorder; the prevalence doubles in adulthood. The intense mood swings and periods of depression contribute to the significant morbidity and mortality associated with this disorder, which ranks seventh among worldwide causes of no...

OBJECTIVES To examine the feasibility of collecting course of illness data from patients with bipolar I and II disorder, using weekly text-messaged mood ratings, and to examine the time trajectory of symptom ratings based on this method of self-report. METHODS A total of 62 patients with bipolar I (n = 47) or II (n = 15) disorder provided mood data in response to weekly cell phone text messag...

In general, bipolar disorder with its classical presentation of regularly recurring manic and depressive episodes can be well diagnosed in adults and adolescents. However, bipolar disorder in children is a controversial issue, difficult to diagnose and to distinguish from other illnesses that frequently occur in childhood. In the US, where the diagnosis of'bipolar disorder' is made relatively o...