71,72 Some authors have suggested that there is an especially severe subgroup of

BPD characterized by comorbidity with ADHD.73,74 At the same time, an Australian followup learn more study75 raises doubts as to whether any link whatsoever exists between the manic symptoms associated with ADHD in childhood and BPD in late adolescence/early adulthood. The results are contradictory: a European group found that, the children of bipolar parents had no elevated risk for ADHD or conduct disorder; in almost, all cases BPD started as a. major or minor form of depression76; whereas Chang et al77 found high rates of ADHD among the offspring of bipolar parents. Another area of ongoing debate Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical is whether a specific subtype of conduct, disorder can be linked with BPD, as suggested by Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical several studies.67,78-83 Juvenile antisocial behavior was present in 55% of 80 adolescents newly diagnosed and hospitalized for BPD.84 On the basis of retrospective data, in the Zurich Study of young adults we found

a. significant association of BPD with certain conduct problems.85 BPD and DUDs An important field of investigation is the early manifestation of SUDs in subjects who simultaneously or subsequently Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical develop bipolar disorders.64,65,86 A birth cohort, study conducted in New Zealand, which demonstrated the existence of a common vulnerability factor for tobacco, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical cannabis, and alcohol abuse in adolescents,87 unfortunately did not assess bipolarity. There is ample research on the association of BP-I with SUDs,88 especially in women, as summarized recently by Lavander et al,89 but little investigation of its association with the bipolar spectrum. There is evidence from the Zurich Study that, the traditional association between major depression and SLID may be misleading and based on an underdiagnosis of bipolarity, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical because a widening of the definition shifted the comorbidity to BP-II, and the association with MDD dwindled

to insignificance. This finding is in sharp contrast, with the extensive literature reporting the association of MDD with alcohol use disorder (AUD) on the basis of conventional DSM diagnoses.90 SUD is all correlated with violent behavior87; BPD subjects may therefore be more prone to offending; this has been shown for bipolar women.91 BPD and anxiety disorders Symptoms of anxiety are elements of the depressive syndrome and integrated into depression rating scales. Intuitively, one would therefore expect, generalized anxiety disorders (GAD) and repeated panic attacks to be more strongly associated with major depression than with BPD. However, the opposite would appear to be true. In the Zurich Study community sample, applying broad criteria for bipolarity, we found significant, associations between BP-II and GAD (OR=5.