Hope and resilience among patients affected by unipolar and bipolar depression

Background: Mood disorders, including unipolar and bipolar depression, are disabling mental conditions and patients’ full-functional recovery may be challenging. Hope and Resilience are relevant factors in the framework of personal recovery and it is of interest to explore their association with the severity of depressive illness and other variables, including suicidality. Methods: in this cross-sectional study, 69 patients affected by unipolar ( n = 31) and bipolar depression ( n = 38) have been recruited and information about their sociodemographics, clinical characteristics were collected as well as the following assessment has been performed: BPRS (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale); HAMD ( Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression); MADRS (Montgomery Asberg Depression rating scale); HADS ( Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) ; SSI (Scale for Suicide Ideation); Synder (The Adult Hope Scale ); CD-Risk (The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale). Results: patients affected by bipolar depression reported significantly higher level of psychopathological issues (BPRS) as well as higher scores of depressive and anxious symptoms (MADRS and HADS), suicidality (SSI). Also, bipolar depression patients reported lower levels of hope (Synder) and resilience (CD-Risk), with hope and resilience levels positively correlated each other, and inversely correlated to psychopathology and psychopathology, depressive and suicidal symptoms, respectively. Conclusions: these findings suggested that bipolar depression is characterized by higher clinical severity and lower levels of hope and resilience. Specific psycho-educational and psychotherapeutic interventions should be promoted to increase levels of hope and resilience in mood disorders, especially in bipolar depression.