Abstract

Background To determine any positive aspects of living with a clinical mood disorder, and indirectly address the question — “If you could live your life again, would you press the ‘magic button’ to experience life without a mood disorder?”

Method Patients referred to a tertiary mood disorder facility were asked to complete a series of questionnaires pursuing detailed historical information about their mood disorder, including its ‘best’ and ‘worst’ aspects.

Results Of the 884 patients surveyed, 335 (38%) returned data on their mood disorder's advantages and/or disadvantages. Of these, 62.2% of the bipolar and 22.4% of the unipolar patients stated that having their condition had advantages, with the most commonly nominated consequences being increased empathy and self-awareness, enhanced relationships, a heightened appreciation of life and increased creativity.

Limitations The qualitative design disallows any inferences as to the exact cause of benefits described in this study, so that we cannot conclude that the patients perceived these benefits as attributable to depression or bipolar disorder alone.