Do Social Defeat and Social Threat Differentiate Schizophrenia from Bipolar Disorder?

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are biologically related, but symptoms of schizophrenia disproportionately reflect a preoccupation with social threats, while symptoms of mania in bipolar disorder disproportionately reflect a preoccupation with social opportunities and rewards. This paper suggests that social defeat/low status and threats to status, well-being, or autonomy play a role in differentiating the developmental trajectories of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Evidence suggests that individual traits and environmental factors that plausibly contribute to low status and social threat are risk-factors for schizophrenia but not for bipolar disorder.