DO BIPOLAR PATIENTS LACK MIND READING; AN ATTEMPT TO ASSESS THROUGH PICTURE SEQUENCING TASK

Abstract

Background: This paper reports the performance of ICD-10 diagnosed Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) patients on a well recognised measure of theory of mind (ToM) that commonly elicits  group related differences in schizophrenia research.

Aims: (1) To assess Theory of mind in patients of Bipolar Affective Disorder.                        

          (2)  To examine effect of mood on Theory of Mind.

Method: Three groups were formed namely Control, BPAD (M) and BPAD (D). Each group was socio-demographically suitably matched and had 30 participants. Active symptomatology was assessed by using YMRS and MADRS in BPAD(M) and BPAD(D) cases respectively. Theory of mind was calculated using Landon and Clotheart (1999) Picture Sequencing Task.

Results: Relative to controls, bipolar patients performed significantly worse on the ToM relevant false belief script in picture sequencing task but not on other types of task stories. No significant difference was observed in the ToM performance between the phase of bipolarity.

Conclusion: The results support previous evidence of ToM deficit in BPAD and indicate a potential endophenotypic overlap in the phenomenology of both Schizophrenia and BPAD.

Keywords: Theory of Mind, YMRS, MADRS, Picture Sequence Task