Brief Psychological Intervention for Bipolar Disorder in Integrated Care Settings in Rural Ethiopia

Abstract

Bipolar disorder is a severe mental illness characterized by recurrent manic and depressive or mixed episodes. Bipolar disorder leads to a significant impairment in functioning, considerable stigma and premature mortality. The social disruption caused by acute episodes related to the illness often persists beyond clinical remission. Various factors affect the outcome of bipolar disorder such as distressing life events, substance use, poor coping mechanisms, sleep disturbance and treatment nonadherence. Complementing pharmacotherapy with psychological interventions has been shown to be more effective in preventing or delaying relapse and improving the course and outcome of the disorder compared to pharmacotherapy alone. In LMICs, there is very limited evidence on the adaptation, effectiveness and implementation of such psychological interventions. Furthermore, there is limited understanding of the particular risk factors and coping mechanisms relevant to LMICs that may be addressed with psychological interventions