There are several reports suggesting that patients with bipolar spectrum disorders experience migraines more frequently than the general population or those with other mood disorders. This could have implications for the treatment of bipolar disorders; untreated migraine could exacerbate their affective states. A previous study of comorbidity of these conditions in a regional hospital psychiatric outpatient department found a much lower comorbidity than expected. It was suggested this might have been attributable to under-diagnosis or under-recognition of the two conditions. Here we re-analyse data from the same outpatient department and find that with greater recognition of this comorbidity the reported prevalence has increased markedly to 33.3% of new referrals in the past year and 8.5% overall. We conclude that there may be considerable under-recognition of the co-existence of migraine and bipolar disorders.
Keywords: migraine, bipolar disorder, prevalence, headache, depressive disorders