Narrative identity in female patients with remitted bipolar disorder: a negative past and a foreshortened future.

The present study examined narrative identity and subjective well-being in outpatients with remitted bipolar disorder (BD) and a healthy control group. Fifteen female outpatients with remitted BD and 15 healthy control participants identified past and future chapters in their life stories, gave their age for the beginning and end of each chapter, rated emotional tone as well as positive and negative self-event connections associated with the chapters, and for future chapters rated the probability of the chapter. The BD patients reported less positive emotional tone and self-event connections for past chapters, but not for future chapters. However, the patients did describe fewer future chapters with shorter temporal projection into the future, and reported lower probability of future chapters. These characteristics of chapters were related to lower subjective well-being. The study suggests that a more negative narrative identity with a foreshortened future perspective may contribute to lower subjective well-being in patients with BD.

Early Maladaptive Schemas: A Comparison Between Bipolar Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: It is still unclear how bipolar disorder (BD) differentiates from major depressive disorder (MDD) outside major mood episodes. To further elucidate this area, the present study compared the two mood disorders in terms of early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) during remission. METHOD: The sample consisted of 49 participants with BD and 30 participants with MDD who were currently in remission. The participants completed the Young Schema Questionnaire. RESULTS: The BD group scored significantly higher than the MDD group on seven EMSs: abandonment, failure to achieve, insufficient self-control, subjugation, unrelenting standards, enmeshment and entitlement. CONCLUSION: By suggesting that EMSs are more severe in BD compared with MDD, the findings highlight potential vulnerabilities in BD, which merit further examination in terms of their underlying causes and potential treatment implications. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE: Early maladaptive schemas are relevant psychological dimensions to consider in remitted phases of major mood disorders. Findings from the current study suggest that early maladaptive schemas are more prevalent in adults with bipolar disorder compared to adults with major depressive disorder when measured during remission. Interventions targeting early maladaptive schemas may be valuable in treatment of bipolar disorder.