Frequencies of signs and symptoms in mixed and pure episodes of mania: implications for the study of manic episodes

Abstract

1. In a previous report the authors compared the frequency of 20 classical and mixed manic signs and symptoms in subjects meeting DSM-III-R criteria for Bipolar Disorder, manic or mixed. In that report, the authors comemented that a possible limitation of the study was the diagnosis of mixed and pure mania using DSM-III-R criteria that may be too rigid The authors now address that issue, adopting a ROC-derived definition of mixed mania 2. Three hundred sixty-three subjects meeting DSM-III-R criteria for Bipolar Disorder, manic or mixed, were evaluated by rating 20 signs and symptoms of mania. The frequencies of these signs and symptoms were computed and compared for both mixed and pure subtypes, determined by the ROC-derived definition. 3. Mood lability, dysphoric mood, guilt, anxiety, and suicidality were more frequently observed in the mixed manic group. In contrast, euphoria and grandiosity were more frequently observed in the pure manic group. Nonetheless, non-trivial rates of dysphoric mood, irritability and anxiety were still observed in the pure groups, despite the adoption of a less restrictive definition of mixed states. 4. The current results are similar to the results obtained using DSM-III-R criteria for Bipolar Disorder, manic and mixed. Although rates of dysphoric mood, anxiety, lability, guilt and suicidality were lower in the manic group, each of these symptoms may be observed in pure manic episodes, underscoring the importance of recognition and evaluation of these features in formal studies of “pure” as well as mixed manic episodes.