MOODSTRATIFICATION.EU is about a new approach to the diagnosis and treatment of severe mood disorders, like bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD) and postpartum psychosis (PP) by looking for biological underpinnings in the immune system.

In the last decades more and more scientific evidence has been gathered showing that a large proportion of severe mood disorders is caused by imbalances in the immune system.

A consortium of European scientists found that:

1. immune cells are essential to build up the brain and to let the brain function properly and
2. the immune cells of individuals with mood disorders are in imbalance and often have an abnormal proneness to inflammation. 

The imbalanced and hyperactive immune cells cause malfunctions and minor inflammations in parts of the brain that are responsible for mood regulation and stress management, resulting in mood disorders or other psychiatric symptoms.

Mood disorders caused by such imbalances in the immune system often predict a negative outcome of regular antidepressant treatment. Therefore it’s important to detect immune imbalances in people with mood disorders, and develop new treatments that are effective in these patients.

In the following years, 2018-2022, 12 European research teams cooperate closely in developing and testing new diagnostic measurements and treatments of patients with mood disorders due to immune imbalances. They do so in the EU funded project MOODSTRATIFICATION.

MOODSTRATIFICATION (2018-2022) is building on the results of two previous EU funded projects: MOODINFLAME (2008 – 2012) and PSYCH-AID (2012-2016).