BIPOLAR DISORDER IN ADOLESCENTS: TREATMENT STRATEGIES AND COMORBIDITIES

Introduction: Bipolar disorder is an important cause of morbidity and mortality because of its consequences such as cognitive/functional disorders and suicide attempts. Most of the cases that diagnosed as bipolar disorder in adulthood are known to have the symptoms since adolescence. Since recognition and treatment of this disorder is crucial in adulthood, we aim to investigate the comorbidities and treatment strategies of bipolar disorder in Adulthood Unit in our clinic. Method: The folders of the patients who admitted the Ankara University Department of Psychiatry Adulthood Outpatient Clinic between June 2016-May 2017 and diagnosed as bipolar disorder are searched retrospectively. Comorbidities and treatments of these patients are investigated, the relations between this data are analyzed with statistical analyses. Results: 47 cases; 31 female (66%, mean age: 19,48), 16 male (34%, mean age: 18,94) are included in the study. The rate of comorbidity is 59,6%, the most common comorbidities are; attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, mental retardation and obsessive-compulsive disorder. 87,2% of the cases use mood stabilizer, 93,6% use antipsychotic drugs and 19,1% use antidepressants. Multiple drug use is significantly greater in the cases with comorbidities. Discussion: In our sample with adulthood bipolar disorder, the rates of comorbidity and multiple drug use are high. The difficulty of diagnosing in adolescents, the adolescents that use pharmacological treatment being the ones that have more severe symptoms and comorbidities may be the reason for these results