Emotion Profiles Associated With Mania and Depression

Abstract

THERE EXISTS a considerable literature suggesting the unreliability of traditional psychiatric diagnoses.^1-3At the same time it has been shown that some individual descriptive categories, such as depression, or profile descriptions based on symptoms are often quite reliable.^4,5In addition, attempts to determine the personality and emotion concepts that clinicians believe to be associated with diagnostic terms have shown high agreement for most terms.^6,7 The present study was concerned with a direct comparison of emotion profiles obtained from a group of manic-depressive patients, with profiles based upon staff ratings. Self-ratings of affect states by patients in the manic or depressive parts of their cycle were compared with staff evaluations of the same two states. The major questions of concern were: (1) what emotions are associated with mania and depression by patients and by staff members; and (2) how similar are the