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Addressing the sexual and reproductive health of women with Bipolar Disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

A. Vieira ,
F. Ramalheira ,
I. Caldas  and
I. Vidó
A. Vieira*
Affiliation:
Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, Ccsmo, Lisbon, Portugal
F. Ramalheira
Affiliation:
Centro hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, Serviço De Electroconvulsoterapia, Lisboa, Portugal
I. Caldas
Affiliation:
Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, Psiquiatria Geral, Lisboa, Portugal
I. Vidó
Affiliation:
Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, Psiquiatria Geral, Lisboa, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mental illness (SMI) with an estimated lifetime prevalence of around 1%, starting in young adulthood and progressing with acute episodes. Although there is no significant prevalence difference between the sexes, the course of the disorder may be more problematic in women, due to hormonal and reproductive factors. Moreover, hypersexuality and impulsive sexual behaviour can manifest as part of a manic or hypomanic episodes, with devastating effects on the physical and emotional health of these patients.

Objectives

To highlight the pertinent issues related to sexual and reproductive health of women with BD.

Methods

A non systematic review of the literature from the last 10 years was carried out using the electronic databases, Pubmed and Google Scholar. The literature search was confined to papers written in English. The keywords ‘sexual health’, ‘reproductive health’, were combined with ‘bipolar disorder’ and ‘women’.

Results

The literature points to an increased incidence of unsafe sexual practices (unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners, trading sex) as well as poor reproductive and sexual health (increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases, high risk of unwanted pregnancies and abortions, low use of contraceptives, menstrual and fertility problems). Female patients with BD are also more likely to report history of sexual abuse.

Conclusions

Attention and counseling regarding effective contraception, planning a pregnancy and risk of sexually transmitted diseases, among others, should be an integral part of health care received by all women with bipolar disorder.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

bipolar disorderwomenSexual and Reproductive Health
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S862
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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