Symptoms of mania and anxiety do not contribute to suicidal ideation or behavior in the presence of bipolar depression

By: Jane E. Persons, Paul Lodder, William H. Coryell, John I. Nurnberger, and Jess G. Fiedorowicz.

Bipolar disorder typically includes both manic/hypomanic and depressive symptoms. While it is understood that the depressive symptoms of bipolar disorder can increase someone’s risk of suicidal thoughts and actions, the role of manic and anxiety symptoms is less clear.

This study explored this using data from 626 people with bipolar disorder who experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms. We found that, contrary to what might be expected, these manic and anxiety symptoms didn't lead to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and actions among people with moderate to severe depressive symptoms. However, there was evidence that having severe depressive symptoms has a small impact (4%) on the risk of suicidal thoughts and actions among those with bipolar disorder. More research is needed to explore this with larger sample sizes.

Read the full article here: https://tinyurl.com/3t8fhmns.