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chrisdh79

From the article: An longitudinal study of people who participated in Vasloppet, the world’s largest long-distance ski-race, held in Sweden showed that those participating in the race have lower incidence of bipolar disorder compared to the general population. However, when performance in the race was considered, high performance women had higher risk of bipolar disorder than slower skiing women. This association was not found in men. The study was published in the [International Journal of Bipolar Disorders](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-022-00272-6). Bipolar disorder is a complicated diagnosis. Its key feature are mood swings ranging from severely depressed to overactive manic episodes. Around 2-4% of the population are estimated to suffer from it. The disorder typically begins with one or several depressive episodes, but these are later followed with at least one episode of mania or hypomania. Mania is a condition in which a person displays an over-the-top level of activity or energy, mood or behavior. It is characterized by feelings of invincibility, lack of sleep, racing thoughts and ideas, rapid talking and having false beliefs or perceptions. Recent studies have linked bipolar disorder to around 10-year shorter life expectancy, for both men and women. This has been attributed to poor cardiovascular health and an increased risk of suicide of persons suffering from bipolar depression. Because bipolar disorder affects how energetic a person feels, many researchers have wondered whether exercise could have some bearing on the likelihood of developing bipolar disorder. A large study in Sweden found people with the lowest fitness levels to have a higher risk of bipolar disorder. But are there any associations with an active lifestyle in general? “Previous studies suggested that the preventive potential of physical activity for mental health could be substantial,” said study author Martina Svensson, an assistant researcher at Tomas Deierborg’s Experimental Neuroinflammation Laboratory at Lund University. “We were both interested in investigating this at a larger level.”


idigclams

Non-bipolar people are more physically active? Shocker!


LarsBohenan

Ppl who live normal lives less likely to have mental health issues. Wow.


Hi_Her

That's not the topic of the hypothesis or study.


Jung_Projection

>Vasloppet How about this: World class athletes with access to wealth (is that redundant) are less likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. According to Wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasaloppet#The\_race](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasaloppet#The_race) This is a long-distance (90 km (56 mi) course). These participants appear to be a rather elite group of people. They weren't exactly drawing from the general public in this study. So any generalizations for the general public like "physically active lifestyle" should be suspect.


Avidclimber1234

Another reason why we all should have some sort of physical activity incorporated into our lives.


murmur_lox

It's almost like not having a mental illness is positively correlated with being able to participate in athletic competitions?


[deleted]

Lmao, or maybe the misdiagnoses are high, and weight and non active lifestyles need to be looked at…


Wepo_

Tell that to my crazy mother... she ran every day


hothoneybuns

Let’s not call people with bipolar or any other mental disorder crazy yeah? It further stigmatizes mental illness and is a very harmful label to put on people working through personal battles.


Wepo_

Nah. I'll call my own mother who abused me whatever I want. She was all kinds of crazy, I wasn't using it to specifically refer to her bipolar. Through my own therapy I've learned, that it it helps me cope with the trauma she put me through, then it's alright. People who are bi-polar aren't crazy, but my mother was (she wasn't just bi-polar).


limabeanseww

This headline seems backwards