BMC Psychiatry offers an examination of the history of childhood abuse among 141 patients with bipolar disorder found that fins “childhood trauma is associated with a more severe course of bipolar illness… By using specific trauma factors (physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse/neglect) the associations become both more precise, and diverse.”
Larsson, S., Aas, M., Klungsoyr, O., et al; Patterns of childhood adverse events are associated with clinical characteristics of bipolar disorder. BMC Psychiatry, 13:97. Online March 22, 2013.