Ongoing use of an affective rating scale in the treatment of a mentally retarded individual with a rapid-cycling bipolar affective disorder.

Empirically tracking cyclic variations in the behavior of mentally retarded individuals with bipolar affective disorders is difficult because disturbances in mood are difficult to operationally define and quantify. The following report presents a case study in which a moderately retarded man's mood and energy were rated by direct care staff who completed a mood rating scale two times each day. The resulting weekly summaries of the data were plotted on a graph which indicated the cyclic fluctuations in symptom areas related to his bipolar disorder. This information was of great value in assessing therapeutic interventions and in designing habilitative activities congruent with shifts in the behavioral patterns.