Bipolar & Sunshine: Can Weather Trigger a Manic Episode?

People with bipolar disorder often suffer changes in mood that can be unrelated to anything going on in their lives. Research has shown that sometimes, however, a change in bipolar phases may be related to certain triggers, stress being a primary one for many. But what about the weather? Can sunshine trigger a change in a person’s bipolar manic phase? Can rainy or cold weather trigger a depression phase? To date, it is not yet clear what causes the change in a person’s bipolar disorder, switching from mania to depression or vice-a-versa. It is known that medications such as lithium can help attenuate or prevent these changes from occurring altogether. Bipolar & Sunshine: Is It Seasonal? The idea that changes in the seasons or weather might play an important role in inducing a manic or hypomanic episode in bipolar disorder can be traced back to Myers & Davies’ study from 1978 that examined hospital admissions due to mania and found a peak of mania episodes in summer and a nadir in winter. These same researchers also found a correlation between mania episodes and temperature in the month in question as well as the mean length of the day and mean daily hours of sunshine in the month before. Some researchers have examined the correlation between a person with bipolar disorder’s change into a manic or hypomanic phase and the season of the year. Dominiak et al. (2015), for instance, found in their study of 2,837 hospital admissions, most mania admi...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Bipolar Disorders General Psychology Bipolar Disorder bipolar sunshine climate factors Hypomania Weather Source Type: news