Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Bipolar Disorder

This type of psychotherapy can prevent mood swings by changing thoughts and behaviors. Learning how to help managing and living with bipolar disorder.

Treatment for bipolar disorder involves medication, a balanced lifestyle and often combined with psychotherapy. One effective type of therapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which can help improve and change the way a person thinks, feels, and acts, and can possibly prevent a mood swing or lessen the severity.

The basis of cognitive behavioral therapy is centered on ideas, thoughts that cause feelings and behavior, not external influences such as other people, events, or situations. Negative or unrealistic thoughts can trigger an episode of depression or mania in a person with bipolar disorder.

This type of therapy provides methods of managing symptoms of depression or mania and preventing relapses,

 People in cognitive behavioral therapy have to fully understand bipolar disorder and the importance of sticking to their medications.

 With a therapist the person works on eliminating negative or unattainable positive thoughts. For example, a person in a manic state can misjudge the risky behaviors and their consequences. The therapist will help the person challenge thoughts that counteract with the persons ideas that appears in mania that are taken too lightly. These types of thoughts can lead to excessive spending sprees, or other actions that could have consequences. People with bipolar disorder may also have negative thoughts that distort situations that can lead to depression. Learning to spot and stop the thoughts and replace them with more realistic ones can improve their mood.

When combined with medication treatment cognitive behavioral therapy can make the road to recovery less painful and hasten the goal to relieve one’s symptoms.  Although medication is the primary treatment often the person can significantly reduce the cycling of their moodswings.