The relation between mood, cognition and psychosocial functioning in psychiatric disorders

Impairments in cognitive performance and inability to function in everyday life situations are present, in various degrees, in many severe mental illnesses, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Persistent mood symptoms (e.g., depression and mania) are associated with functional deficits in major depression and bipolar disorder, but also in conditions where mood symptoms are not the primary markers of the illness, such as in schizophrenia. While mood symptoms impact cognitive performance, both mood symptoms and cognitive deficits have a significant – and to some extent independent – impact on psychosocial functioning in psychiatric patients. Improved control of mood symptoms may represent an important strategy leading to improved functional outcomes. However, cognitive impairment may be an important independent dimension of many psychiatric disorders and such symptoms should also be considered a potential target of treatments aiming to reduce functional deficits.