Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Based Psychoeducation, Meaning of Life and Coping Skills in Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder negatively affects individuals' mental and physical health, interpersonal relationships, educational and occupational functions. Factors such as personality structure, coping with stress and social adaptation skills play an important role in the course of the disease as well as neurobiological factors. Bipolar disorder is a difficult condition for people to cope with due to its chronic nature and these individuals have problems in interpersonal relationships and coping with stress. Beyond what is perceived in relation to normal life, bipolar disorder causes individuals to experience large and complex extra dimensions in all aspects of their lives and to struggle for meaning in their lives. Three indicators of an individual's psychological well-being are the individual's goals in life, awareness of his/her existing potential and the quality of interpersonal relationships. In bipolar disorder, which also affects the psychological well-being of individuals, individuals often do not achieve complete remission despite pharmacotherapy. In addition to pharmacotherapy, various psychosocial interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapies and psychoeducation have been developed and applied to treat bipolar disorder. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is one of the leading types of therapy methods called the third generation of cognitive behavioural therapies. Instead of teaching individuals to control their feelings, thoughts, sensations, memories and other subjective situations, acceptance and stability therapy teaches individuals to recognise and accept these experiences and, most importantly, to embrace their negative experiences. Acceptance and commitment therapy aims to change individuals' relationships with the emotions, thoughts, memories and physical sensations that they fear and avoid. It uses acceptance and awareness strategies to teach individuals to focus on the present moment and to reduce avoidance and cognitive attachment. Thus, individuals learn to clarify their goals and values and learn to adhere to behaviour change strategies. Acceptance and commitment therapy is one of the psychotherapies supported by the American Psychological Association for most psychiatric conditions, including psychosis. The transdiagnostic nature of acceptance and commitment therapy is compatible with mood disorders as well as psychotic symptoms. Acceptance and commitment therapy has been shown to be effective in many psychopathological conditions, including bipolar disorder. It is stated in the literature that an innovative group intervention combining acceptance and commitment therapy and psychoeducation approaches may be beneficial in individuals with bipolar disorder. Psychoeducational programmes are auxiliary interventions that complement pharmacological treatment in order to further reduce the burden of the disease and relapses in mental disorders. The effectiveness of psychoeducation in patients with bipolar disorder has been shown in many studies.