Keywords: bipolar disorder, metabolic syndrome, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, depressive disorder, cranial electrotherapy stimulation

“Between mood and matter; studies on the interface between mood disorders and physical conditions”

This dissertation focuses on the interface of mood disorders and physical conditions from various perspectives. Patients with a psychiatric disorder have an increased risk of developing physical disorders and live ten to thirty years shorter than the general population. Our results found that patients with bipolar disorder are almost twice as likely to develop metabolic syndrome as the general population. This, in turn, increases their risk of cardiovascular disease. Patients with chronic pain often suffer from depressive symptoms. Our research shows that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is effective in reducing depressive symptoms in patients with chronic pain and depression and that body awareness plays a role. The final link between body and mind examined in this dissertation is cranial electrotherapy stimulation as a treatment for depression. This form of neurostimulation uses a small electric current to influence brain activity. Our results suggest that cranial electrotherapy stimulation using the Fisher Wallace Stimulator as an additional treatment option for patients with therapy-resistant depression does not yield demonstrably better results than the placebo.