It is now well established that OCD often occurs with bipolar disorder. A recent study in the journal Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences sought to elucidate differences between OCD with and without bipolar disorder. The study investigators found that when OCD occurs with bipolar disorder individuals tend to have i) symptoms that occur in clusters ii) a higher number of depressive episodes, greater suicidality and a higher rate of hospitalization iii) more idiosyncratic compulsions, and iv) poorer insight than when OCD occurs in the absence of bipolar disorder. Overall, these data suggest a greater severity of illness when OCD occurs with bipolar disorder which, of course, has important implications for the understanding and treatment of both illnesses. As the authors point out, genetic studies examining the link between OCD and bipolar disorder are an obvious next step.
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