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DSM IV Definition

Treatment
  medications
  pyschotherapy

F.A.Q.

Suggested Reading
Treatments for Bipolar Disorder:

Psychotherapy

How can psychotherapy help control bipolar disorder?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT, can help enhance the effectiveness of medications in controlling bipolar disorder. It can be offered in individual or group format. CBT can help people learn to monitor and control the symptoms of bipolar disorder, to reduce obstacles to medication adherence, and to cope with stressors that may make new episodes more likely.

Cognitive therapy (often included as one component of CBT) is an approach where patients learn to identify and modify the patterns of thinking that accompany mood shifts. For example, people who are depressed may see themselves, their world, and their future in an extremely negative, grim, pessimistic way. They may feel that all is doomed, that they are bad or worthless, and that nothing will ever go right. This way of looking at the world is a distortion which can exacerbate their depressed feelings.

At the opposite extreme, people who are manic or hypomanic tend to see themselves, their world, and their future in a very positive, optimistic, "rose-colored" way. They may feel that luck is on their side, that they are extremely capable or powerful, and that nothing can go wrong. This outlook is also a distortion, and it can lead to unwise or risky choices and serious problems. In cognitive therapy, people can learn to monitor their thoughts and test them out logically in order to counter the distortions that go with depressed and elevated moods.

Insight-oriented psychotherapy can help people with bipolar disorder to address the problems that come up in connection with having the disorder and to deal with the feelings that arise (including grief, anger, fear, etc.). This approach to therapy is most effective during periods when a person's mood is relatively stable. It is best for a person with bipolar disorder to work with a therapist who is knowledgeable and skilled in assessing and treating bipolar disorder. This way the therapist can work with the person to monitor mood and recognize any emerging symptoms. In this kind of therapy, periods of stable mood can be used to work on general life issues and to process feelings about the disorder and its effects. At points when symptoms flare up, the focus is changed to coping with and controlling the symptoms.
The Massachusetts General Hospital
Bipolar Clinic and Research Program
50 Staniford Street, 5th Floor; Boston, MA 02114
P: (617) 726-6188 | F: (617) 726-6768

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