Bipolar recovery a likelihood, MU graduate student finds
A study found in participants older than 25, the disorder was less common.
Published Sept. 1, 2009
Almost half of young adults suffering from bipolar disorder will recover from the condition when they reach their 30s, a study led by MU graduate student David Cicero found.
Bipolar disorder is a psychological condition in which a person shifts between deep depression and manic episodes of heightened mood, anxiety and on occasion a sense of euphoria.
“Some of the symptoms are people might spend too much money, (or) they might engage in risky sexual behavior,” Cicero said. “They might do things that could potentially get them in trouble and they don’t sleep very much.”
Amee Epler, Cicero’s colleague, said bipolar disorder can make it difficult for those diagnosed with it to live normal lives.
“One thing we did find, no matter how likely the offset, people with bipolar disorder are much more likely to have drug and alcohol problems,” Epler said.
Traditionally, the condition is thought to be chronic throughout a person’s life, but Cicero, Epler and faculty supervisor Kenneth Sher collected data from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions, noted the trends between its nearly 44,000 participants and found a sharp drop in the disorder around age 25.
“One of the things that we considered is that there are many different reasons why people could have been in the sample at first, but not at the follow-up survey,” Cicero said. “They could be incarcerated, they could be hospitalized and they could die.”
Cicero’s study found a dramatic shift in the number of people with bipolar disorder in the older age groups.
“The rates are just so much higher in early adolescents and into early adulthood, that it’s looking like people are maturing out at that point,” Cicero said.
There could be several reasons for this sudden mental shift, Cicero said.
“As people age, they get involved in roles like jobs and one commonly used treatment of bipolar disorder is having a routine,” Epler said.
She said this could be a different kind of bipolar disorder.
“Many people diagnosed with bipolar disorder are more likely to be of the chronic type, but there may be a subset that are more developmentally limited,” she said.
One hypothesis that Cicero outlined regards the development of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is highly affected by bipolar disorder and finishes developing sometime in a person’s 20s. Its full development might contribute to the recovery of some people suffering the condition.
Cicero said their discovery is exciting and makes him hopeful that bipolar disorder might not necessarily be a lifelong condition.
Cicero said their research is far from conclusive. Cicero and his colleagues hope to continue their studies with bipolar disorder in the future.
Due to the number of college students affected by bipolar disorder and other depression and stress related conditions, the MU Wellness Resource Center offers services for these students.
“Our role is to help decrease the stigma in seeking help for mental health issues,” Wellness Resource Center Director Kim Dude said. “We have an entire media campaign trying to encourage students to seek help. We also have a new online training opportunity to help people learn how to help students who are depressed and potentially suicidal.”
The program, called Ask Listen Refer, offers guidance to people wanting to reach out to a friend going through mental and emotional hardship.
“Our research indicates that students talk to their friends about their concerns first,” Dude said. “So it is important for us to educate students on how to help their friends.”