Around 45% of people who have bipolar disorder also have alcohol use disorder. Nevertheless, treatment for bipolar disorder rarely includes or considers managing alcohol use disorder, and problematic alcohol use is often not included in trials for bipolar disorder. How alcohol use and symptoms of bipolar disorder interact is largely unexplored.
In the current study, researchers investigated how alcohol use is linked to mood and life functioning in bipolar disorder over time. To do so, they conducted a cohort study including 584 individuals with an average age of 40 years old who had received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Main outcomes included alcohol use and measures of mental health such as depression, mania, and anxiety. Patients were followed for 5- 16 years.
“Our study shows that when an individual with bipolar disorder drinks more than typical for them, regardless of how much more, they are more likely to show an increase in depressive and/or manic symptoms over the following six months, even if they did not have a co-occurring alcohol use disorder,” said first author of the study, Sarah Sperry, Ph.D., a psychologist and assistant professor at Michigan Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, in a press release.
Although alcohol use was linked to mood instability and poorer work functioning in bipolar disorder, increased mood symptoms were not linked to subsequent alcohol use. Alcohol use was also not linked to anxiety over time.
Given the prevalence and repercussions of problematic alcohol use in bipolar disorder, the researchers wrote that dimensional and longitudinal assessment and management of alcohol use should be included in research and treatment for the condition.
The researchers are now trying to identify psychological and neuropsychological factors that contribute to alcohol use and symptom changes in bipolar disorder. They hope to develop new interventions for both.
Sources: Neuroscience News, JAMA Network Open