Can you get off the rollercoaster? Psychotherapeutic interventions in bipolar disorder.

Abstract

Bipolar affective disorder is a chronic illness that usually causes significant psychosocial deficits and functional impairment and is also associated with excess mortality. It is underlied by an endogenous pathology with pharmacotherapy as primary treatment. However, in many cases, medication treatment alone is associated with limited adherence, low remission rates, increased potential for relapse and residual symptoms, which is why bipolarity-specific psychotherapeutic interventions are increasingly gaining ground as an integral part of the management of the disease. An increasing amount of research and evidence suggest that complementary psychotherapeutic interventions improve patients' long-term functioning, and argue for the involvement of psychologists and other helping professionals in the long-term care of patients with bipolar disorder. In this article we overview the major therapeutic methods specifically targeted at this group of patients, including individual and group psychoeducation, cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy, Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT), Integrated Care Management, Think Effectively About Mood Swings (TEAMS), Imagery Based Emotion Regulation (IBER), and other individual and group techniques and psychotherapeutic interventions, also mentioning efficacy studies and effects experienced by patients.