Prodromes, Coping Strategies and Course of Illness in Bipolar Affective Disorders

Abstract

This study represents the first phase of a series of projects which aim at investigating whether an early intervention approach of helping bipolar patients to recognise and do something constructive to cope with their prodromes may be beneficial. The purposes of the study are twofold: 1/ to investigate which bipolar prodromes were reported frequently over a period of 18 months and 2/ to determine whether bipolar patients’ coping with prodromes at recruitment predicted whether they would have further bipolar episodes. Prodrome is defined as the interval from the time that the first symptoms were recognised to the time when the symptoms reached maximum severity. In other words, they are reports of change in the cognitive, affective or behavioural aspects that make the patient suspect they may be at an early stage of either mania or depression.