Cognitive-behavioral therapy: applications for the management of bipolar disorder

This paper reviews cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for bipolar disorder (BD). Data on the poor outcome of about 50% of patients diagnosed with BD supports the addition of a psychosocial intervention for the treatment of this recurring disorder. The psychoeducational nature of CBT, the effectiveness of CBT in increasing compliance to pharmacological treatment, and the ability of CBT to prevent relapse in unipolar depression (UD) are well suited to the treatment of BD.

Psychosocial interventions for BD will be briefly reviewed. Individual and group CBT interventions (published and unpublished) will also be reviewed. The significance of comorbid anxiety disorders regarding response to treatment will also be discussed. A review of the treatment protocol with the specific cognitive-behavioral interventions as applied to BD will be presented. Finally, a case example will be presented to illustrate the application of CBT to BD.

Preliminary results indicate that CBT may be an effective adjunctive, intervention for the treatment of BD. Specifically CBT may be helpful in increasing compliance, improving quality of life and functioning, help early symptom recognition, decrease relapse and decrease depressive symptomatology.

Preliminary data on CBT for BD are promising but more rigorous randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm the efficacy of CBT for BD. An other area of research should be to pursue the understanding of cognitive processes in BD which would allow us to refine and develop CBT interventions unique to this disorder.