title: Disability and its treatment in bipolar disorder patients.
abstract: Bipolar disorders (BPD) are major, life-long psychiatric illnesses found in 2-5% of the population. Prognosis for BPD was once considered relatively favorable, but contemporary findings suggest that disability and poor outcomes are prevalent, despite major therapeutic advances. Syndromal recovery from acute episodes of mania or bipolar major depression is achieved in as many as 90% of patients given modern treatments, but full symptomatic recovery is achieved slowly, and residual symptoms of fluctuating severity and functional impact are the rule. Depressive-dysthymic-dysphoric morbidity continues in more than 30% of weeks in follow-up from initial episodes as well as later in the illness-course. As few as 1/3 of BPD patients achieve full social and occupational functional recovery to their own premorbid levels. Pharmacotherapy, though the accepted first-line treatment for BPD patients, is insufficient by itself, encouraging development of adjunctive psychological treatments and rehabilitative efforts to further limit morbidity and disability. Interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral, and psychoeducational therapies all show promise for improving symptomatic and functional outcomes. Much less is known about how these and more specific rehabilitative interventions might improve vocational functioning in BPD patients.
authors: The International Consortium for Bipolar Disorder Research, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Division of Massachusetts General Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA. nancy_huxley@hms.harvard.edu
authors: Nancy
authors: N
authors: Huxley
authors: Ross J
authors: RJ
authors: Baldessarini
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D011613:Psychotherapy; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents