ABSTRACT

To put some of the issues of this chapter into context, I will briefly review some of the morbidity and cost issues in bipolar disorders. I will then summarize outcomes of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for bipolar disorder where psychological therapies have been added to medication and usually, but not exclusively, are compared with treatments as usual. I will then present some preliminary data from the recently completed Medical Research Council (MRC) study looking at a similar paradigm using cognitive therapy added to treatment as usual, compared with routine psychiatric treatment. Finally, I will draw some conclusions particularly highlighting how these data fit in with the recommendations given by treatment guidelines on bipolar disorders, such as those published by the American Psychiatric Association, the British Association of Psychopharmacology, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists of Australia and New Zealand Psychiatry (for example, see references 1 and 2).