title: Bipolar affective disorder and dissociation--comparison with healthy controls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  According to recent findings, certain clinical symptoms of patients suffering from affective and anxiety disorder can be related to dissociation. The aim of our study was to examine if the level of dissociation in bipolar affective disorder differed from the level of dissociation in healthy volunteers.
  
  
  METHODS
  41 patients suffering from bipolar disorder (51.2% females), and 198 healthy controls ( 71.2% females) were included in the study. The patients with bipolar affective disorder in remission were recruited from the Outpatient department of the Department of Psychiatry of the University Hospital Olomouc. They were psychiatrically assessed and the state of the disorder was evaluated by an experienced psychiatrist. Only patients in remission, evaluated as 1 or 2 points of clinical global impression-severity scale, were included in the study. All participants were assessed with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences in the two groups in demographic variables like age, gender and education. Patients had a significantly higher mean score on the DES and pathological DES than healthy controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the level of psychological dissociation in bipolar affective patients is higher than in healthy controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc and University Hospital Olomouc, Czech Republic. klaralat@centrum.cz.
authors.forename: Klara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Latalova
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prasko
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pastucha
authors.forename: Ales
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grambal
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kamaradova
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Diveky
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jelenova
authors.forename: Barbora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mainerova
authors.forename: Kristyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vrbova
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D055815:Young Adult