Our results suggest a high rate of lifetime concurrent anxiety disorders in bipolar disorder .
The diagnostic issues at the interface are particularly difficult because of the substantial symptom overlap .
BACKGROUND Bipolar affective disorder has a high rate of comorbidity with a multitude of psychiatric disorders and medical conditions .
Among all the potential comorbidities , co-existing anxiety disorders st and out due to their high prevalence .
AIMS To determine the lifetime prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders in bipolar affective disorder under the care of psychiatric services through systematic review and meta- analysis .
Benzodiazepine use and abuse among patients with severe mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders.
OBJECTIVES Because use of benzodiazepines may exacerbate existing substance use disorders or become abused substances , prescription of benzodiazepines for patients with severe mental illness ( schizophrenia or bipolar disorder ) and co-occurring substance use disorders ( abuse or dependence ) is controversial . The authors examined benzodiazepine use and associated psychiatric , substance abuse , and institutional outcomes in a six-year longitudinal study of patients with co-occurring disorders . METHODS At baseline and yearly follow-up for six years , 203 patients with co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorder were prospect ively assessed for medication use , substance use , psychiatric symptoms , use of hospitalization , and quality of life . RESULTS Almost one-half of the patients ( 43 percent ) reported taking prescribed benzodiazepines at the time of at least one assessment . Patients taking prescribed benzodiazepines were more likely to have high scores on measures of overall symptoms and affective symptoms ( anxiety and depression ) and low ratings for general quality of life throughout the study . Benzodiazepine use was unrelated to remission of substance use disorder or hospitalization , but a greater proportion of patients who were prescribed benzodiazepines developed  benzodiazepine abuse , compared with those who were not prescribed benzodiazepines ( 15 percent compared with 6 percent ) . CONCLUSIONS Prescription benzodiazepine use was common among patients with co-occurring severe mental illness and a substance use disorder and was not associated with any of the measured outcomes other than increasing the likelihood of benzodiazepine abuse . Physicians should consider other treatments for anxiety in this population
Our results suggest a high rate of lifetime concurrent anxiety disorders in bipolar disorder .
The diagnostic issues at the interface are particularly difficult because of the substantial symptom overlap .
BACKGROUND Bipolar affective disorder has a high rate of comorbidity with a multitude of psychiatric disorders and medical conditions .
Among all the potential comorbidities , co-existing anxiety disorders st and out due to their high prevalence .
AIMS To determine the lifetime prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders in bipolar affective disorder under the care of psychiatric services through systematic review and meta- analysis .