“Is it menopause or bipolar?”: a qualitative study of the experience of menopause for women with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND: Menopause can be a time of change for women and may be marked by disturbances in mood. For women living with a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, little is known about how they experience mood changes during menopause. This study aimed to explore how women with bipolar disorder constructed mood changes during menopause and how this impacted on treatment decisions. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with fifteen women who reported they had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Data was analysed using thematic analysis guided by a social constructionist framework. RESULTS: Themes identified included ‘Constructions of mood change: menopause or bipolar disorder?’,‘ Life events, bipolar disorder and menopause coming together’; ‘Treatment choices for mood change during menopause’. CONCLUSIONS: The accounts suggested that women related to the experience of mood changes during menopause through the lens of their existing framework of bipolar disorder, with implications for understanding of self and treatment choices. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12905-017-0467-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.