Top grades linked to mood swing disorder
Wednesday February 3rd, 2010
The most academically successful young people face massive risks of developing mental health problems caused by mood swings between depression and euphoria, researchers reported today.
The new research suggests that bipolar disorder is up to four times more common in young people who were straight-A students than others.
A link between high IQ and bipolar disorder has been put forward for many years, but now there is also scientific evidence, thanks to researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
The findings show that the kind of ups and downs that afflicted the musical genius Mozart and other great artists are common amongst talented young people.
Collaborating with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, they used information from the Swedish national school register on all 713,876 students graduating from compulsory education between 1988 and 1997, at age 15 to 16.
This was cross-referenced with figures from the Swedish hospital discharge register on diagnosis of bipolar disorder between the ages of 17 and 31.
Excellent school performance was linked to almost four times the risk of developing bipolar disorder than average performance. However, students with the poorest grades also had almost twice the risk of bipolar disorder than those with average grades. The study is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
"We found that achieving an A grade is associated with increased risk for bipolar disorder, particularly in humanities and to a lesser extent in science subjects," said lead researcher, Dr James MacCabe.
"A-grades in Swedish and Music had particularly strong associations, supporting the literature which consistently finds associations between linguistic and musical creativity and bipolar disorder."
He believes that a mild form of mania can cause people to have greater stamina and concentration, and link ideas in innovative ways, as can unusually strong emotional responses, common in people with bipolar disorder.
"Although having A grades increases your chance of bipolar disorder in later life, we should remember that the majority of people with A grades enjoy good mental health," Dr MacCabe added.
MacCabe, J. H. et al. Excellent school performance at age 16 and risk of adult bipolar disorder: national cohort study. British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 196, February 2010, pp. 109-15.
Tags: Infancy to Adolescence | Mental Health | UK News
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