OCD & Bipolar Disorder
Sunday June 3, 2007
Emilystars, a member of our Forums shares, “I have OCD alongside bipolar II. Is it common to be diagnosed with both?”
Yes, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in those with bipolar disorder is well documented. A number of clinical research studies have evaluated the prevalence of those diagnosed with both disorders. There is a range of findings, but some studies show the figures as high as 35% of those with bipolar disorder who also have OCD.
I found a recent article entitled Bipolar and Nonbipolar Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Clinical Exploration by Amit Zutshi, Prakash Kamath and Y.C. Janardhan Reddy. In this paper, the research team found that bipolar OCD was a bit different than just OCD. “Most bipolar OCD subjects reported worsening of OCD in depression (n = 22, 78%) and improvement in manic/hypomanic episodes (n = 18, 64%).”
Comments
I know the feeling about having ocd and bipolar I was diagnosed with both plus a couple other things but it really sucks because at times I feel like I am loosing my mind because it just dont look straight enough or clean enough People just don’t understand people like us..
I am BP/OCD with other things to go along. I do think the OCD is worse when depressed; I have spent two weeks attempting to organize the same 100 sq. feet of computer/office area in my house. It’s driving me crazy on a daily basis, as I don’t work and that’s what I have been doing all day. My therapist has helped me some in breaking down some of the routines I used to have to do on a daily basis and repetitively, but there are definitely some that are not going away.
I have Bipolar, and a mild case of OCD. However, I do have a different question regarding Bipolar and other
ailments. My son was just dx’d with Bipolar Disorder, and he also has Social Anxiety Disorder. Is there any connection between the two of these disorders? Does anyone know? Thanks!