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Family-Focused Psychotherapy Enhances Treatment for Bipolar Disorder
For the past 25 years, clinical psychology Professor David Miklowitz has pioneered a treatment method
called family-focused therapy in the battle against bipolar disorder. Medication is the first line of defense
against the disease, but Miklowitz has found that involving family members in the treatment process not
only helps patients recover faster from debilitating depressive phases, but also keeps them better longer.
Bipolar disorder affects nearly six million Americans who live with wild mood swings between periods of
abnormally high energy and debilitating bouts of depression. While fully controlling these ups and downs
is not possible, doctors can help quicken recovery from episodes and delay patients’ relapses. Miklowitz
has found that teaching patients and family members how to immediately recognize and get treatment for
emerging symptoms is essential to controlling the disease.
His family-focused treatment revolves around therapy sessions to educate members of the immediate
family about the disease and the best ways to communicate and solve the problems it causes. Left
untreated, bipolar disorder can split up marriages, cause job loss and lead to suicide.
In April 2007, Miklowitz released the results of the largest federally funded study involving psychological
treatment of bipolar disorder. In the study Miklowitz, who was the principal author, and other researchers
reported that adding intensive psychotherapy to a bipolar patient’s medication treatment made the patient
recover more rapidly from depression and one and one-half times more likely to be “clinically well” during
any month of the study year, compared to those who did not receive intensive therapy. This marked the
first time a major study involving hundreds of patients showed the positive effects of adding
psychotherapy to treatment.
Dr. Grohol's mental health site is one of the oldest popular site of its kind on the web.
It includes a directory of resources, detailed and accessible information about a wide
range of psychiatric disorders, and lots of links.
It includes a directory of resources, detailed and accessible information about a wide
range of psychiatric disorders, and lots of links.
Revitalizing Psychiatry
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