The effect of obsessive beliefs on functioning in bipolar disorder patients in remission with and without a history of suicide attempt

Introduction: Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by depressive, manic, hypomanic, or mixed episodes with significant impairment in functionality.The risk of suicide in BD is 20-30 times higher than in the normal population.Obsessive beliefs are defined as cognitive processes that cause the person to incorrectly evaluate or misinterpret these thoughts as a result of the emergence of unwanted mentally intrusive thoughts.Studies have shown that beliefs beyond the control of thought may also be related to psychopathologies other than Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This study aims to determine the effect of obsessive beliefs on functionality in patients diagnosed with BD-I in remission with and without a history of suicide. Method: The study included 33 patients with a history of suicide attempts and 51 patients without a history of suicide attempts, aged 18-65, diagnosed with BD-I according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Five (DSM-5), who applied to Dicle University Hospital Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic. After the participants signed a voluntary consent form, the sociodemographic data form, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Yale-Brown Obsession Compulsion Scale (Y-BOCS), Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-44 (OBQ-44), Bipolar Disorder Functioning Questionnaire (BDFQ) were applied to participants. Results: There was no significant difference in OBQ and BDFQ total scores between two groups. We found significant correlations between OBQ subscale scores and BDFQ subscale scores in certain areas according to the presence of a history of suicide attempts. Regarding functionality, no significant difference was found between the two groups, except for participation in social activities, daily activities and hobbies scores. Conclusion: It was concluded that there was no significant relationship between obsessive beliefs and suicide attempts, the functionality was similar in the groups with and without suicide attempts, and there were significant correlations between some obsessive beliefs and specific areas of functionality. These results suggest that interventions to reduce obsessive beliefs may increase patients' functionality in certain areas. Keywords: Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Beliefs, Functionality, Suicide, Suicide Attempt