A Comparative Study of Cognitive Impairment between Patients with Unipolar and Bipolar Depression

Introduction: Mood disorders fall into the basic groups of elevated mood, such as mania or hypomania; depressed mood, of which the best-known is major depressive disorder commonly called unipolar depression and moods which cycle between mania and depression, known as bipolar disorder. Cognitive impairment in unipolar and bipolar depression has been the focus of intensive investigation during the past decade. Aim:1) To access cognitive impairment in patients with unipolar depression and bipolar depression 2) To find out the difference in cognitive impairments between patients with unipolar and bipolar depression 3) To find out the correlation between severity of depression and cognitive impairment between patients of unipolar and bipolar depression. Methodology: Sample comprises of 100 patients of which 58 patients were of unipolar depression and 42 patients of bipolar depression. Patients were taken according to DSM-IV TR Criteria and those who were fulfilling our inclusion criteria. Tools: Tools used were Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and PGI Memory Scale and Cognitive Symptoms Checklist. Result and Discussion: Impairment in memory and cognitive symptoms was found in patients of unipolar and bipolar depression as compared to control group and results indicates that with the increase in depression memory decreases and cognitive impairment increases.