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4.4: Mood Disorders - Comorbidity

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    161368

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    Learning Objectives
    • Describe the comorbidity of depressive disorders.
    • Describe the comorbidity of bipolar disorders.

    Depressive Disorders

    Studies exploring depression symptoms among the general population show a substantial pattern of comorbidity between depression and other mental disorders, particularly substance use disorders (Kessler, Berglund, et al., 2003). Nearly three-fourths of participants with lifetime MDD in a large-scale research study also met the criteria for at least one other DSM disorder (Kessler, Berglund, et al., 2003). MDD has been found to co-occur with substance-related disorders, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, OCD, anorexia, bulimia, and borderline personality disorder. Gender differences do exist within comorbidities such that women report comorbid anxiety disorders, bulimia, and somatoform disorders while men report comorbid alcohol and substance abuse. In contrast, those with PDD are at higher risk for psychiatric comorbidity in general and for anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and personality disorders in particular (APA, 2022).

    Given the extent of comorbidity among individuals with MDD, researchers have tried to identify which disorder precipitated the other. The majority of studies found that most depression cases occur secondary to another mental health disorder, meaning that the onset of depression is a direct result of the onset of another disorder (Gotlib & Hammen, 2009).

    Bipolar Disorders

    Those with bipolar I disorder typically have a history of three or more mental disorders. The most frequent comorbid disorders include anxiety disorders, alcohol use disorder, other substance use disorder, and ADHD, along with borderline, schizotypal, and antisocial personality disorder.

    Bipolar II disorder is more often than not associated with one or more comorbid mental disorders, with anxiety disorders being the most common (38% with social anxiety, 36% with specific phobia, and 30% having generalized anxiety). As with bipolar I, substance use disorders are common with alcohol use (42%) leading the way, followed by cannabis use (20%). Premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder are common in women with bipolar II disorder especially (APA, 2022).

    Finally, cyclothymic disorder has been found to be comorbid with substance-related disorders and sleep disorders.

    Key Takeaways

    You should have learned the following in this section:

    • Depressive disorders have a high comorbidity with substance use disorders, anxiety disorders, and some personality disorders.
    • Bipolar disorders have a high comorbidity with anxiety disorders and substance abuse disorders while cyclothymic disorder is comorbid with substance-related disorders and sleep disorders.
    Review Questions
    1. What are common comorbidities for the depressive disorders?
    2. What are common comorbidities for bipolar disorders?

    This page titled 4.4: Mood Disorders - Comorbidity is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Alexis Bridley and Lee W. Daffin Jr. via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.