Psychotherapy Critical To Treating Bipolar Disorder

Intensive psychotherapy, in addition to medication, offers the best hope in helping people with bipolar disorder heal faster and stay better longer, shows a new study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Researchers split 293 bipolar patients already taking medication for the disorder between three biweekly intensive psychotherapy groups (family-focused therapy, cognitive behavioral, and interpersonal and social rhythm therapy) and a three-session, psychoeducational collaborative care group designed as a control. Their progress was then monitored for a year.

Psychotherapy patients fared better than the control group no matter which therapy they had received, researchers found.

Over the course of the year, 64 percent of those in the intensive psychotherapy groups had become well, compared with 52 percent of those in collaborative care therapy. Patients in intensive psychotherapy also became well an average of 110 days faster than those in collaborative care. In addition, patients who received intensive psychotherapy were one and a half times more likely to be clinically well during any month out of the study year than those who received collaborative care.

Press Release: Intensive Psychotherapy More Effective Than Brief Therapy for Treating Bipolar Depression
FULL TEXT: Psychosocial Treatments for Bipolar Depression