It's hard to define "hand in hand" when it comes to discussing the comorbidity of Bipolar Disorder and other conditions. I want to just say "YES!" but it's not so simply and for some reason I like to leave a long response to a thread instead of a short one.

However, to say it shortly "possibly". Much with like many subjects in psychiatry, there is no definite answer. A large number of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder have also been diagnosed with OCD - a strong link has been established between the two and it's been estimated between 10% and 35% of people with bipolar disorder also have a diagnoses of OCD.

10% to 35% may not seem like much, but considering that in the US alone around 5.7 million people are diagnosed with Bipolar, it means that between 570,000 and almost 2 million people in the US with Bipolar also have a diagnoses of OCD.

So yes there is a link between the two and cases of comorbidity are actually pretty high, and it's thought that OCD could be more comorbid with Bipolar than Major Depressive Disorder (I, myself, am comorbid Bipolar Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder).

Also quite interestingly there is evidence that, when comorbid with bipolar disorder, the OCD seems to be more centered around obsessiveness with activities such as religion and sexual activities than it is around "checking compulsions". However there is still much to learn for clinical experts and psychiatrists.

Further Reading

RB ♥