Effect of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Reducing Symptoms and Modifying Dysfunctional Attitudes in Patients with Type I and II Bipolar Disorder

The effect of mood disorders on cognitive and metacognitive processes and large association of dysfunctional attitudes with longer periods of bouts of depression is proven. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on reducing symptoms and adjusting dysfunctional attitudes in patients with bipolar disorder, in order to reach an adjuvant treatment for medical treatments in such patients.

In this quasi-experimental study with pretest, posttest and control group, 30 patients, 10 men and 20 women, selected through convenience sampling from psychiatric clinics in Isfahan, Iran. They were diagnosed to have bipolar disorder (types I or II), according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), received standard medical treatment with mood stabilizers and were randomly put in two groups. Test group received medical treatment along with cognitive-behavioral therapy (10 individual sessions) and the control group received only medical treatment. Young’s mania rating scale (YMRS), bipolar depression rating scale (BDRS) and dysfunctional attitudes scale (DAS) were used before and right after the termination of treatment. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and covariance test.

Controlling the covariate variables, differences between the medians of test and control groups for all three variables of symptoms of mania, depression and adjustment of dysfunctional attitudes were significant (P < 0.01 for all).

Cognitive-behavioral therapy as an adjuvant psychological treatment can be effective in reducing symptoms and adjusting dysfunctional attitudes in patients with bipolar disorder. Therefore, providing regular protocols of cognitive behavioral therapy and adding them to medical treatment of these patients and also comparing the effect of this therapy and other psychological treatments is suggested for future studies.