Barcelona snapshots

Dr. Michele De Prisco

Michele De Prisco psychiatrist Controversies Psiquiatry Barcelona
IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Spain
Talk When Emotions Overwhelm: Understanding Dysregulation Across Diagnosesk
Date Friday, April 17, 2026
Time 15:05 - 15:50
Round Table #4. Emotional Dysregulation and the Limits of Emotional Distress

BIOGRAPHY

Michele De Prisco is a psychiatrist and researcher in the Bipolar and Depressive Disorders Unit at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, and a member of the Translational Research Program in Brain Disorders at IDIBAPS. With a strong passion for programming, research methodology, and statistical analysis, he integrates these skills into a scientific approach aimed at deepening our understanding of mental disorders. His main research interests include affective cognition and emotional dysregulation, particularly within the context of bipolar disorder. Since 2021, he has published more than 70 articles in international scientific journals, mainly focused on bipolar disorder, including both original research and meta-research studies. He also actively participates in science communication and mental health research podcasts, helping bring scientific knowledge closer to the general public.

ABSTRACT

Emotion dysregulation (ED) is increasingly recognized as a transdiagnostic construct with profound implications for the diagnosis, treatment, and clinical understanding of psychiatric disorders. Because the ability to regulate emotions is essential for everyday functioning, interpersonal relationships, and goal-directed behavior, its disruption cuts across diagnostic boundaries and represents a shared burden in many mental illnesses.

This presentation will examine ED from a broad transdiagnostic perspective, exploring how different psychiatric conditions are characterized by distinct patterns of emotional dysregulation, before narrowing its focus to bipolar disorder (BD), a condition in which ED is particularly prominent and clinically impactful. The presentation will first introduce the conceptual framework, defining what emotions are and how individuals regulate them through several different strategies.

Drawing on findings from a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the presentation will then examine ED in BD across both clinical and non-clinical populations. This comparative approach will highlight what is specific to BD and what is shared across diagnoses, offering a framework for differential assessment. A particular focus will be placed on the trait versus state nature of ED in BD, that is, whether ED persists as a stable characteristic of the disorder or fluctuates in relation to mood symptoms. The relationship between specific emotion regulation strategies and the severity of depressive and hypomanic or manic symptomatology will be explored, with the aim of identifying which strategies are most tightly linked to clinical outcomes and may therefore represent priority targets for intervention.

These findings will be discussed in light of their treatment implications, reviewing current evidence on approaches that target ED through a transdiagnostic lens. Finally, the presentation will situate ED within the broader domain of affective cognition, encompassing emotional intelligence, facial emotion recognition, and reward processing, arguing that moving beyond ED alone, toward a more integrated understanding of affective cognitive functioning, represents a promising direction for both research and personalized clinical care in mental disorders.

REFERENCES