![Many people involved with the arts, such as Vincent van Gogh,[1] are believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder](https://news-cdn.softpedia.com/images/news2/Predicting-Mood-Swings-by-Bipolar-Patients-Possible-2.jpg "Many people involved with the arts, such as Vincent van Gogh,[1] are believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder")
14 DAY TRIAL // A new research demonstrates for the first time that it is possible to detect when people suffering from bipolar disorder will have their next mood swing. If the method to figure this out is applied widely, then this discovery could lead to an improved quality of life for both the patients and their care givers.
In the work, experts detail how it is possible to use the thoughts and behavior that bipolar syndrome sufferers display at one point to get an idea about when they will experience another mood swings.
The study was conducted by experts at the University of Manchester and the University of Lancaster, both of them in United Kingdom. Details of the method were published yesterday, April 18.
The most important implication for the new work is that treatment approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) could in the near future be used as extremely effective methods of treating bipolar disorder. Other talking therapies could be equally as effective.
One of the hallmarks that patients suffering from this condition display is a tendency to shift between great emotional highs to the darkest forms of depression almost instantly. This is what experts call a mood swing, when two completely opposite emotions succeed each other within minutes.
Traditionally, genes and biology were considered to play a more significant role in triggering this condition than a person's own thoughts or actions do. In order to test if this is true, the research team followed some 50 bipolar patients for about 30 days.
Analyzing the participants' own thinking and behavior patterns was found to be an excellent way of predicting when a mood swing will occur. The correlation held true even after researchers accounted for the medical history of each single patient.
“Individuals who believed extreme things about their moods – for example that their moods were completely out of their own control or that they had to keep active all the time to prevent becoming a failure – developed more mood problems in a month's time,” Dr Warren Mansell explains.
The expert, who was the leader of the new study, holds an appointment with the Manchester School of Psychological Sciences. “In contrast, people with bipolar disorder who could let their moods pass as a normal reaction to stress or knew they could manage their mood, faired well a month later,” he adds.
“These findings are encouraging for talking therapies – such as CBT – that aim to help patients to talk about their moods and change their thinking about them,” the investigator goes on to say.
The new work was presented in a paper that appeared in the latest issue of Psychological Assessment, a scientific journal published by the American Psychological Association.