A Computational Linguistic Exploration to Characterise Risk-Taking Behaviours in Bipolar
Creators: name: Harvey, Daisy
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2025

description: Background
 
 Bipolar disorder (bipolar) is a severe mental illness affecting
 approximately 2% of the global population. It is associated with
 challenges in emotion regulation and cognitive processing, often
 contributing to risk-taking behaviours such as hypersexuality, excessive
 spending, and self-harm. Despite clinical and academic recognition of
 these behaviours, there is limited research on real-world experiences of
 risk-taking in bipolar. Existing studies predominantly rely on self-report
 measures or laboratory tasks, which fail to capture the full reality and
 impacts of these behaviours. This gap in understanding hinders the
 development of symptom-specific support and interventions.
 
 
 Objectives
 
 This thesis aims to characterise the specific types and frequency of
 risk-taking behaviours in individuals with bipolar disorder. By employing
 computational linguistic methods, it seeks to provide novel insights into
 these behaviours and inform healthcare providers on how to better address
 risk-taking, an under-recognised aspect of bipolar in clinical settings.
 
 
 Methods
 
 The research consisted of three original research studies:
 
 1. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 individuals with
 bipolar and five healthcare professionals to identify self-reported or
 observed risk-taking behaviours. Content analysis, combined with corpus
 linguistic techniques produced a classification system encompassing 39
 behaviours across six domains.
 
 2. Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods were applied to produce a
 corpus of Reddit posts, curated through web scraping, to further explore
 one of the identified risk-taking behaviours from Study 1: hypersexuality.
 This involved topic modelling, psychological domain analysis, and keyword,
 concordance, and collocation analyses.
 
 3. A focused investigation into hypersexuality in bipolar was undertaken,
 informed by interview findings and recent literature, using computational
 methods to examine its presentation and the discussion of hypersexuality
 on Reddit by people who self-report a diagnosis of bipolar.
 
 
 Results
 
 The interviews and subsequent analyses identified 39 risk-taking
 behaviours across six domains, providing a comprehensive classification
 system. NLP analysis of Reddit posts revealed a significant increase in
 hypersexuality-related discussions over the past decade. Qualitative
 findings highlighted a lack of clinical awareness and support for
 hypersexuality, suggesting an unmet need for understanding and addressing
 this symptom.
 
 
 Conclusion
 
 This thesis underscores the importance of normalising discussions around
 risk-taking behaviours, particularly hypersexuality, in the management of
 bipolar. By integrating computational linguistic methods with qualitative
 insights, it offers a novel framework for understanding risk-taking
 behaviours. The findings have implications for improving clinical
 assessment, intervention, and the overall management of risk-taking in
 bipolar.