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. 2019 Aug 1;22(8):467-477.
doi: 10.1093/ijnp/pyz018.

Improving Functioning, Quality of Life, and Well-being in Patients With Bipolar Disorder

Caterina Del Mar Bonnín  1 , María Reinares  1 , Anabel Martínez-Arán  1 , Esther Jiménez  1 , Jose Sánchez-Moreno  1 , Brisa Solé  1 , Laura Montejo  1 , Eduard Vieta  1
Affiliations

Improving Functioning, Quality of Life, and Well-being in Patients With Bipolar Disorder

Caterina Del Mar Bonnín et al. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. .

Abstract

People with bipolar disorder frequently experience persistent residual symptoms, problems in psychosocial functioning, cognitive impairment, and poor quality of life. In the last decade, the treatment target in clinical and research settings has focused not only on clinical remission, but also on functional recovery and, more lately, in personal recovery, taking into account patients' well-being and quality of life. Hence, the trend in psychiatry and psychology is to treat bipolar disorder in an integrative and holistic manner. This literature review offers an overview regarding psychosocial functioning in bipolar disorder. First, a brief summary is provided regarding the definition of psychosocial functioning and the tools to measure it. Then, the most reported variables influencing the functional outcome in patients with bipolar disorder are listed. Thereafter, we include a section discussing therapies with proven efficacy at enhancing functional outcomes. Other possible therapies that could be useful to prevent functional decline and improve functioning are presented in another section. Finally, in the last part of this review, different interventions directed to improve patients' well-being, quality of life, and personal recovery are briefly described.

Keywords: bipolar disorder; functional outcome; psychotherapy; quality of life.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Timeline representing some scales to measure psychosocial functioning in bipolar disorder over the last 40 years. FAST, Functioning Assessment Short Test; GAF, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale; ICF, International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health; LIFE-RIFT, The Range of Impaired Functioning Tool; SDS, Sheehan Disability Scale; MSIF, Multidimensional Scale of Independent Functioning; UPSA, the UCSD Performance-based skills Assessment; WHODAS 2.0, World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Overview of proven and promising therapies to treat bipolar disorder. CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy; EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing; EPO, erythropoietin; FFT, family-focused treatment; IPSRT, Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy; IRRI, Integrated Risk Reduction Intervention; NEW tx, nutrition, exercise and wellness treatment; QoL, quality of life.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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