Novel Way to Approach Anxiety in People With Bipolar Disorder Discovered

Novel way to approach Anxiety in people with Bipolar Disorder (AIBD) by a psychological intervention is discovered by scientists of Lancaster University.

Anxiety in people with Bipolar Disorder (AIBD) can be approached in a new way of psychological intervention, reports a new study. The finding of the study are published in the journal Depression and Anxiety.

Anxiety is //common in Bipolar Disorder (BD) and associated with worse clinical outcomes including increased suicidality. Despite effective psychological treatments for anxiety, research into treating anxiety in BD is underdeveloped.

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‘Anxiety is very common in Bipolar Disorder (BD) and related to worse clinical results including increased suicidality. Novel psychological intervention is discovered by researchers to address Anxiety in Bipolar Disorder (AIBD).’

Researchers led by Professors Steven Jones and Fiona Lobban offered adults with both Bipolar Disorder and clinically significant anxiety symptoms either treatment as usual or the novel intervention.

This new AIBD intervention included ten sessions of psychological therapy. AIBD was offered flexibly in terms of location and session duration, with sessions supported by client workbooks including client therapy record and anxiety recovery plans, lived experience accounts of anxiety and BD and information about additional resources and support.

Professor Jones said: "The individualized formulation-driven approach took into account level of engagement and motivation and explored links between anxiety and bipolar experiences, including issues around functioning, to elicit personally valued treatment goals."

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Bipolar Disorder is a brain disorder in which people show “mood swings”. Changes in the level of neurotransmitters in brain, and psychosocial factors are thought to be involved.

The specific intervention plan in each case was guided by the individual formulation and included appropriate cognitive behavioral strategies focussed on addressing anxiety experiences and consequent behavior.

The CBT approach typically included learning more about the nature of their anxiety symptoms and developing coping strategies for dealing with them using CBT techniques such as relaxation and breathing techniques, cognitive restructuring, behavioral experiments, thought monitoring and challenging and adaptive problem-solving.

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Participants indicated they valued the intervention in contrast with previous forms of support received. They identified the benefits of treating anxiety and BD together in contrast with previous experiences of having these problems addressed separately.

Coping strategies learnt in AIBD were helpful in:

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Social anxiety disorder is a common mental health problem where a person is abnormally fearful of social situations, sometimes severe enough to affect daily life.

overcoming anxiety-based social isolation and functional limitations.
increasing confidence in dealing with BD.

Professor Jones said: "The trial was successful in demonstrating feasibility and acceptability of selection, recruitment and intervention procedures. Although AIBD was generally well received, some participants wanted more sessions."

Source-Eurekalert