1232 – Psychoeducation for patients with bipolar affective disorder

Abstract

Structured psychological interventions should be considered for patients with bipolar disorder once they are past the acute phase or a relapse, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of future relapses. Method The PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched for articles containing the following keywords: “bipolar disorder” and “psychoeducation”. The resources were confronted with our own experiences with psychoeducation in bipolar patients and only most relevant information was included in the text. Results The most important target of the psychoeducation is to prevent a relapse by increasing compliance with medication usage, increasing social rhythms, reducing emotional expressivity in the family and increasing coping skills against stress. Studies on psychoeducation in bipolar disorder demonstrate significant effects on rehospitalization rates, compliance and knowledge. Compared with mood stabilizer treatment alone, combination treatment of CBT and mood stabilizers has been shown to reduce the number of bipolar episodes, reduce the duration of episodes that do occur, and reduce the number of hospital admissions due to episodes. The aim of the group psychoeducational program of the Psychiatric clinic in Olomouc is to familiarize patients with the essence of bipolar disorder, the part and principles of pharmacotherapy, the recognition of the warning signs of relapse, to advice about improper and stressful stereotypes in communication within families, and finally the training of social skills. Patients consider this program as a meaningful and helping them to better understanding what happened in their life. Supported by grant IGA MZ CR NT 11047-4/2010.