Self-compassion and Bipolar Disorder

University Hospital, Strasbourg, France10 enrolled

Overview

Currently, pharmacotherapy is central in the management of bipolar disorder (BD), but does not guarantee satisfactory results for many patients. Existing psychotherapies, notably cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), show some effectiveness, but do not target the mechanisms that maintain the disorder. Indeed, people with BD present a low level of self-compassion, suffer from comorbidities (e.g. anxiety, depression), and have a high level of emotional dysregulation, which can contribute to increasing the risk of relapse and mood instability. In this context, it has been suggested that interventions targeting self-compassion could reduce BD psychopathology and strengthen emotional regulation skills. Two psychological therapies targeting self-compassion could be promising in the treatment of BD: Compassion-Based Therapy (CBT) and Cognitive Therapy focused on Mental Imagery (mTCI). These approaches partly emphasize compassionate mental imagery to promote self-soothing and emotion management skills. Studies on the feasibility and effectiveness of CBT and mTCI in the context of BD are few in number, and do not focus on their impact on emotional regulation abilities. Evaluating these therapies could lead to the development of more specific and effective interventions for people with TB.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Bipolar Disorder

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Major subject (≥ 18 years old) * Subject with diagnosed bipolar disorder followed on an outpatient basis, in a day hospital or outside the hospital during the period from January 1, 2022 to February 29, 2024. * Absence of written opposition in the subject's medical file to the reuse of their data for scientific research purposes. Exclusion Criteria: * Subject having expressed his opposition to the reuse of his data for scientific research purposes. * Judicial measures: care under constraint or patient deprived of liberty due to a legal measure

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Compassion-Based Therapy (CBT) and the Cognitive Therapy focused on Mental Imagery (mTCI).

For the evaluation of these two psychological therapies targeting self-compassion, the Self Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003) will be used : * The SCS is a 26-question self-assessment questionnaire with a response format of 5-point Likert type (from 1= almost never to 5= almost always). * The score between : * 1.0-2.49 is considered to be low, * 2.5-3.5 is considered to be moderate, * 3.51-5.0 is considered to be high.

Time frame: Up to 1 year