How Effective Is Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) For The Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder?

— -- Question: How effective is interpersonal therapy (IPT) for the treatment of bipolar disorder?

Answer: Interpersonal therapy is another treatment modality that's widely used in helping people with bipolar disorder. And there's also good evidence backing up the claim that interpersonal therapy helps bipolar patients stay well. Interpersonal therapy was originally developed to help people with major depression -- depressive episodes. Since bipolar disorder has, as one of its characteristics, also depressive episodes, it's commonly used in people who have bipolar disorder and are depressed.

Of note, there is one specific brand of interpersonal therapy called interpersonal social rhythm therapy, which actually focuses on the day-to-day rhythms of an individual with bipolar disorder -- when they get out of bed, what time they leave the house, when they see friends. And this kind of thing that also has been shown to provide great benefit for people with bipolar disorder, because it actually helps people to live regular, rhythmical lives, which is one of the things that's disrupted in bipolar disorder.

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