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Abstract

Introduction:Bipolar disorder (BD) is a mental illness which leads to serious struggles and challenges. The neurobiology of BD has complex underpinnings of gene–environment interactions. One such environmental factor, stressful life events (SLEs) can have adverse impacts on the course and prognosis of BD, however this is underexplored.Aims and objectives:1) To estimate the frequency of SLEs in patients with BD-current episode depression2) To study the association of severity of depression with SLE, sociodemographic and illness related factors.Methods:This is a cross sectional study done on 100 consecutive patients diagnosed to have BD-current episode of depression (ICD10), attending Psychiatry OPD & IPD at Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvalla. Semi-structured proforma, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale were used.Results:About 73% of patients reported SLEs–of which 65 had mild/moderate and 8 had severe stress. Statistically significant association was found between stressful life events and ‘very severe’ depressive episode. Having a middle socio-economic status, past suicide attempt, 1st episode as depression and presence of dyslipidaemia also showed statistically significant association with severity of depression.Conclusion & Recommendations:Understanding the association of stressful life events and BD will help in predicting further relapses and complications like suicide. It will aid in developing adequate therapeutic measures, thereby helping in both symptom reduction and improving quality of life in patients.