title: The prevalence and clinical correlates of anger attacks during depressive episodes in bipolar disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anger attacks, characterized by sudden episodes of intense anger with autonomic arousal, have been described in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). This study compared the prevalence and clinical significance of anger attacks in unipolar versus bipolar depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the questionnaire of Fava et al. [Psychopharmacol. Bull. 27(3) (1991) 275-279], we assessed rates of anger attacks among outpatients with MDD (n=50) or bipolar disorder (BPD) (n=29) who were currently in a pure depressive episode.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anger attacks were significantly more common among bipolar (62%) than unipolar (26%) depressed individuals. In a multiple logistic regression, the presence of anger attacks emerged as a significant predictor of bipolarity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This preliminary finding should be confirmed in a larger sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that anger attacks may be a common feature of bipolar depression.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA. rperlis@partners.org
authors.forename: Roy H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Perlis
authors.forename: Jordan W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Smoller
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fava
authors.forename: Jerrold F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Nierenberg
authors.forename: Gary S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Sachs
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D015995:Prevalence