Bipolar
"Talk" Your Way Out of Bipolar Disorder?
Can you "talk" your way out of the lows of bipolar disorder?
Researchers are finding that intensive forms of psychotherapy - "talk therapy" - may be key to lift patients out of the depressive abyss common in bipolar disorder. Treatment for this destructive mental illness usually includes both medication and some level of psychotherapy, but until a recent study, the importance of intensive counseling wasn't clear.
The National Institutes of Health estimates that 5.7 million Americans (roughly 2.6 percent of the population) have bipolar disorder. Scientists believe that the illness can be triggered by a number of factors, including a genetic predisposition and certain environmental influences.
Bipolar disorder cannot be cured, and it's not possible to fully control its ups and downs. Treatment focuses on delaying or mitigating its symptoms, and researchers have made progress in adapting existing medication for this purpose. But clinicians needed to understand the role psychotherapy plays in treatment, and whether any particular form is better than another.
Over the years, several approaches have been developed to help individual patients and their families understand and cope with the disorder:
The study, funded by the federal government and conducted by the University of Colorado, found that the type of psychotherapy didn't matter, as long as it was personalized and sustained.
The seven-year study followed 293 people diagnosed with bipolar disorder who were treated at 15 sites across the country. Members of the test group received intensive therapy in one of the three talk therapy strategies listed above. The control group received much less frequent sessions of psychoeducation, in which patients and/or their family members learned about the disorder and how to recognize the characteristics of the mood swings.
People who received intensive counseling were 1.5 times more likely to be "clinically well" in any given month during the study. Those who lapsed into depression recovered an average of 110 days faster than those who did not get intensive treatment.
The purpose of the study was not to suggest that psychotherapy was more effective than medication, Professor David Miklowitz, the study's principal author, noted in a press release. Medication is "the first-line defense against depression," he said. "But then the question becomes, 'What if the person is not responding right away?' That's when therapy may be the missing ingredient."
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"Talk" Your Way Out of Bipolar Disorder?
Can you "talk" your way out of the lows of bipolar disorder?
Researchers are finding that intensive forms of psychotherapy - "talk therapy" - may be key to lift patients out of the depressive abyss common in bipolar disorder. Treatment for this destructive mental illness usually includes both medication and some level of psychotherapy, but until a recent study, the importance of intensive counseling wasn't clear.
The National Institutes of Health estimates that 5.7 million Americans (roughly 2.6 percent of the population) have bipolar disorder. Scientists believe that the illness can be triggered by a number of factors, including a genetic predisposition and certain environmental influences.
Bipolar disorder cannot be cured, and it's not possible to fully control its ups and downs. Treatment focuses on delaying or mitigating its symptoms, and researchers have made progress in adapting existing medication for this purpose. But clinicians needed to understand the role psychotherapy plays in treatment, and whether any particular form is better than another.
Over the years, several approaches have been developed to help individual patients and their families understand and cope with the disorder:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy, in which people learn to recognize and alter negative or inappropriate thoughts
- Family therapy, in which family members learn coping, communication and problem-solving strategies to deal with the illness
- Interpersonal and social rhythm therapy, in which people with bipolar disorder learn how to establish healthy daily and nightly routines, which may guard against manic episodes.
The study, funded by the federal government and conducted by the University of Colorado, found that the type of psychotherapy didn't matter, as long as it was personalized and sustained.
The seven-year study followed 293 people diagnosed with bipolar disorder who were treated at 15 sites across the country. Members of the test group received intensive therapy in one of the three talk therapy strategies listed above. The control group received much less frequent sessions of psychoeducation, in which patients and/or their family members learned about the disorder and how to recognize the characteristics of the mood swings.
People who received intensive counseling were 1.5 times more likely to be "clinically well" in any given month during the study. Those who lapsed into depression recovered an average of 110 days faster than those who did not get intensive treatment.
The purpose of the study was not to suggest that psychotherapy was more effective than medication, Professor David Miklowitz, the study's principal author, noted in a press release. Medication is "the first-line defense against depression," he said. "But then the question becomes, 'What if the person is not responding right away?' That's when therapy may be the missing ingredient."
On Fast Track
With
Dr. Ashok Koparday
my doctor tells
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