The theory of mind deficits in bipolar disorder patients in A remission period of one year or longer

The aim of this study was to determine whether bipolar disorder patients in a remission period of one year or longer have any deficits in the theory of mind abilities compared to healthy control group participants, and to investigate the relationship between theory of mind deficits and clinical variables such as gender, educational level, disease duration, number of attacks, hospitalization history, history of suicide attempt, duration of remission and anxiety, as well as social adaptation. The study included 50 bipolar disorder patients in a remission period of one year or longer and 50 healthy control group participants. Demographic information and medical history were obtained; Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Hinting Test, Eyes Test, Social Adaptation and Self-Evaluation Scale (SASS) and Reasoning (WAIS-R) tests were applied. We determined that the theory of mind deficit of bipolar affective disorder patients who were in a remission period for one year or longer, existed independently of the level of social functioning, anxiety level, number of manic attacks, number of depressive episodes, number of hospitalizations, suicide attempt and duration of remission. We found that the theory of mind deficit was independent of the duration of remission of bipolar disorder. Thus, the theory of mind deficit has been found to be an important factor that differentiates the bipolar disorder patient in remission period from normal individuals regardless of other characteristics. As a result, it is thought that the theory of mind deficit is part of the basic pathology of bipolar disorder and affects the presence (perhaps the emergence) of the pathology independently of the other features. Key words: Bipolar disorder, remission, theory of mind, social cognition, administrative functions.