- The Impact of Sexual Satisfaction on Marital Adjustment, Quality of Life, and Treatment Adherence in Patients Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder and Their Spouses: A Cross-Sectional Study. [Journal Article]Bipolar Disord. 2026 Nov; 28(7):e70189.BD
- CONCLUSIONS: Sexual satisfaction is closely linked to marital adjustment and quality of life in BD, with a less direct relationship to treatment adherence. Couple-based psychoeducation addressing sexual health may support marital and quality-of-life outcomes in this population.
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- Emotional Responses (Intensity/Valence) Fulfill RDoC Criteria but Remain Excluded From Diagnostic Classifications of Mood Disorders. [Review]
- CONCLUSIONS: Integrating emotional intensity and valence within an RDoC-informed framework provides a biologically grounded account of depressive heterogeneity, refines the characterization of mixed states, and offers clinically relevant guidance for treatment selection. This perspective supports the development of personalized therapeutic strategies and the systematic inclusion of emotional dimensions in clinical research.
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- 'It's a Balancing Act': A Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences of Caffeine Use in Individuals With Bipolar Disorder. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: The complexities of the caffeine-bipolar relationship are highlighted. Participants indicated that caffeine requires a very delicate balancing act, having the potential to be both helpful and harmful. Findings emphasise the importance of increasing knowledge surrounding caffeine use for both patients with BD and clinical professionals.
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- Irritability in the Mix: An Exploratory Study of the Role of Irritability in Characterising Mood Disorders. [Randomized Controlled Trial]
- CONCLUSIONS: Irritability and mixed symptoms are phenomenologically linked. The persistence of this link, regardless of the existence of mixed symptoms, suggests that irritability permeates bipolar disorder and is core to its phenomenology. Future studies should interrogate the tethering of mixed symptoms and irritability in the context of bipolar disorder as this may lead to a deeper understanding of the core characteristics of the illness-both clinically and in terms of its neurobiology.
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- Trajectories of Cognitive Functioning in Older Age Bipolar Disorder. [Journal Article]Bipolar Disord. 2026 Nov; 28(7):e70188.BD
- CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underscore the heterogeneous nature of cognitive aging in OABD, revealing a spectrum of cognitive longitudinal trajectories. Findings indicate that the MMSE is a valid screener in order to broadly predict cognitive functioning and its course in OABD. Identifying individuals who are particularly susceptible to cognitive decline is crucial for initiating tailored rehabilitation strategies.
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- Bipolar Disorder and Perimenopause: An Update. [Systematic Review]
- CONCLUSIONS: This review provides an updated perspective on BD and perimenopause, extending existing knowledge beyond mood symptoms and identifying several clinical and research gaps. Clinicians should consider the potential impact of perimenopause in BD management. Research using standardized menopause staging criteria (e.g., STRAW+10) is encouraged to inform mechanisms, illness trajectories, treatments, and to better support individuals with BD through perimenopause.
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- Clinical and Biological Characterization of Bipolar Disorder Patients With Chronic Insomnia Reveals Cortisol Reductions, Elevated TNF-α, and Increased Genetic Risk for Accelerated Aging. [Journal Article]Bipolar Disord. 2026 Nov; 28(7):e70187.BD
- CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that chronic insomnia in BD can persistently alter sleep independent of mood symptoms and may be associated with distinct biological features, including cortisol and inflammatory systems.
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- Comparative Effectiveness of Lithium- Vs. Valproate-Based Combinations With Atypical Antipsychotics in Preventing Rehospitalization After a First Manic Episode of Bipolar I Disorder. [Journal Article]Bipolar Disord. 2026 Nov; 28(7):e70184.BD
- CONCLUSIONS: In this nationwide cohort of patients with first-episode mania, Val + AAPs were associated with a lower risk of bipolar rehospitalization compared to Li + AAPs, suggesting potential early-phase maintenance advantages of valproate combinations over lithium combinations following first mania discharge.
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- Longer Sleep Duration Predicts Progression to Bipolar or Psychotic Disorders in Youth Accessing Early Intervention Mental Health Services. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Excessive sleep duration may represent an early marker of vulnerability for progression to severe mental illness. Findings support the prognostic utility of objective measures of SCRDs to guide indicated prevention and early intervention.
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- Association Between Lithium Use and Suicide-Related Behaviors in Bipolar Disorder: A Multicenter Study. [Multicenter Study]
- CONCLUSIONS: In this multicenter clinical sample, lithium exposure was consistently associated with lower odds of suicide-related behaviors across multiple analytic approaches. Aggression was independently associated with suicide-related risk and statistically accounted for part of the observed association between lithium exposure and suicide-related outcomes. However, causal inference is limited by the cross-sectional design, and residual confounding-particularly confounding by indication-remains a key concern. Prospective longitudinal studies are required to clarify temporal relationships and disentangle treatment effects from selection processes.
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- Association of Polygenic Risk Score for Suicidal Behavior With Ventral Prefrontal Morphology in Bipolar Disorder. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest this suicide PRS may reflect genetic mechanisms influencing IFG differences in BD. Given the modest sample size, replication of these preliminary findings in large-scale diverse cohorts is required to determine whether including this PRS and/or the corresponding IFG values could improve multimodal BD suicidal behavior prediction algorithms.
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- Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Rapid Mood Screener for Bipolar Disorder (RMS-T): A Validity and Reliability Study. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: The RMS-T is a valid and easy-to-use self-administer tool for the identification of BD-I in individuals with depression. The RMS has many advantages over the MDQ in clinical settings by having fewer items, a simpler scoring system, and shorter completion time. Early screening and detection of BD is critical for appropriate treatment selection to achieve the goal of overall improving health outcomes.
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- Hope as a Therapeutic Imperative for Treatment Resistant Depression. [Case Reports]
- CONCLUSIONS: Treatment resistance should not be equated with irremediability; hope is an integral component of person-centred psychiatric care.
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- Supplement: The 28th Annual Conference of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, Vancouver, Canada, 28 - 30 September 2026. [Journal Article]Bipolar Disord. 2026 Sep; 28 Suppl 1:e70158.BD
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