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Is There a Seasonal Pattern of Relapse in Bipolar Affective Disorders? a Dual Northern and Southern Hemisphere Cohort Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Trevor Silverstone ,
Sarah Romans ,
Neil Hunt  and
Heather McPherson
Trevor Silverstone*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand
Sarah Romans
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand
Neil Hunt
Affiliation:
Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge, UK
Heather McPherson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin
*
Professor Trevor Silverstone, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand. Fax: (64) 3 474 7934
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Extract

Background

Admission statistics for mania frequently show an increase in the summer. The present two-centre study was designed to test the hypothesis, in a representative sample of bipolar patients, that manic and depressive relapses show a seasonal pattern.

Method

Two cohorts of bipolar I patients, one in London, England (n = 86), the other in Dunedin, New Zealand (n = 58), were tracked retrospectively during 1985–88 and prospectively during 1989–91, with the onset of all relapses being carefully dated.

Results

In the London cohort there were 221 episodes of mania and 76 of depression; in the Dunedin cohort there were 201 of mania and 61 of depression. No consistent seasonal pattern of mania was detected in either centre. There was an autumn preponderance of depressive episodes in both centres.

Conclusions

Relapse of bipolar depression, but not of mania, appears to be determined in part by seasonal factors.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 167 , Issue 1 , July 1995 , pp. 58 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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