ASSESSMENT OF IMPULSIVITY IN BIPOLAR DISORDER (BD) IN COMORBIDITY WITH GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER (GAD): REVISITING THE HYPOTHESIS OF PROTECTIVE EFFECT

Objective: Bipolar Disorder is associated with many psychiatric comorbidities. Anxiety disorders, is diagnosed in about 50% of patients with Bipolar Disorder throughout life and contributes to a worse outcome. There are evidences that impulsivity may have an inverse relationship with anxiety and, therefore, that Anxiety Disorders could serve as a protective factor in relation to an impulsive behavior. Method: This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the presence of a diagnosis of GAD and the expression of different types of impulsivity in a sample of patients affected by BD. We assessed 95 subjects diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, euthymics during the evaluation. GAD was observed in 56.84% of the sample. The two groups of patients classified accordingly to the presence / absence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder were compared in a neuropsychological battery composed by Conner’s Continuous Performance Task (CPT-II) and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess motor, attentional and decision-making impulsivity. Results and conclusions: There were no significant differences between groups of Bipolar Patients in any measure of impulsivity, and therefore, our data does not support the hypothesis of protective effects of anxiety in impulsivity expression.