Women are twice as likely to develop bipolar disorder in the years leading up to menopause, study finds

Women are more than twice as likely to develop bipolar disorder in the years before menopause, a study suggests.

Researchers examined data from 128,294 women in the UK over the four years surrounding their last period.

The analysis found that there was a 112 percent increase in bipolar disorder during perimenopause, while the occurrence of major depressive disorder increased by 30 percent.

Perimenopause occurs when a woman has symptoms of menopause, such as anxiety, mood swings, and brain fog, but still has her period.

Study leader Professor Arianna Di Florio, from Cardiff University, said: ‘During perimenopause, around 80 per cent of people develop symptoms, but the impact on the development of serious mental illness is unknown.

Study leader Professor Arianna Di Florio, from Cardiff University (pictured), said: “During perimenopause, around 80 per cent of people develop symptoms, but the impact on the development of serious mental illness is unknown.”

‘In my clinic, I found that some women, who previously lived without any experience of serious mental health problems, developed serious mental illness around the time of menopause.

‘I feel a duty towards the women I work with.

“I wanted to give them and other women the answers as to why this terrible thing happened to them.”

Professor Di Florio said the findings could help provide additional support to women who had “previously been left in the dark”.

“Research like this is vital as women experience these profound changes in their lives and bodies and are currently disappointed by the lack of a detailed understanding of these changes,” she added.

“We have been able to expand our knowledge about the mental health changes associated with perimenopause, which can help provide explanations, diagnoses and support to women who previously had no idea what was happening to them.”

The study, published in the journal Nature Mental Health, was carried out in collaboration with the charity Bipolar UK and the UK Biobank.

Clare Dolman, Bipolar UK ambassador and head of patient and public engagement for the project, said the findings could “save lives”.

She added: “This study is extremely important because it demonstrates for the first time in a very large sample that the menopausal transition has a measurable impact on women’s mental health.

Bipolar disorder is a mental health problem that affects mood and can swing from one extreme to another (file image)

‘For me, this confirms what we have observed and heard from women with bipolar disorder themselves: that hormonal change is a very important factor in mood disorders and deserves to be investigated further.

‘As a bipolar woman who has gone through menopause, I hope the research community recognises the importance of this funding.

“The studies will allow us to predict a woman’s risk of unexpectedly becoming ill at that point in her life. This knowledge could save her life.”

The study focused on first experiences of psychiatric disorders during perimenopause and did not investigate links with recurrence of pre-existing psychiatric disorders.

Bipolar UK said more research was needed focusing on people with a history of mental illness.