Objectives:
The subject of the research was to analyze the relationships between bipolar disorder and the profile of moral reasoning.

Methods:
86 persons took part in the research: including 43 bipolar patients and 43 healthy individuals. To measure the severity of depression and mania symptoms the following scales were used: Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Young Rating Scale for Mania (YMRS). Profile of moral reasoning was defined on the basis of the results obtained in the Defining Issue Test (DIT) by James Rest.

Results:
Statistical analysis showed that there is a relationship between bipolar disorder (and its phases) and the profile of moral reasoning: patients less often than healthy individuals chose answers indicating the postconventional thinking (p=0,000) - specifically stages 5A and 5B, and more often – answers indicating stage 3 and the anti-institutional thinking index (p=0,000). There was also a relationship shown between moral reasoning and the phase of bipolar disorder: patients in mania less often than persons in euthymia chose answers indicating the final stage of moral thinking (p=0,050). There were no significant differences between the results of patients with a depressive episode and the results of patients in mania and between the results of patients with a depressive episode and the results of patients in euthymia.

Conclusions:
The results suggest that bipolar disorder may influence the way of thinking about moral dilemmas. The collected data also seem to emphasize the specificity of the manic phase which is especially worth exploring when conducting further studies.