Balance

bipolarbear2 · Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 1

I read the latest magazine article about recovery from bi-polar illness with interest as I have been 'recovered' for 3 years now. I still have minor, short-lasting episodes of both depression and hypomania which I can cope with, however, I don't regard myself as not having the disorder. What concerns me a bit is the trend toward what I call 'think yourself well'. I think that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has its place, but in my experience it is putting the chicken before the egg. For me, if my mood has been restored to normal I have had no problems with low self-esteem and negative thoughts, and this has invariably come about with alterations in my medication. I'm aware that this may not be everyone's experience, but I feel that the present climate is tending towards an anti-medication culture and this worries me as I most certainly would not be alive and well today if it were not for my psychiatrist persisting with finding the appropriate drug combination for me.
_________________
happily bipolar (for now)

stewart · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 85 Location: Perth

Pleased to hear you've been serious episode free for three years.
Some info relevant to your experiences.
A controversial paper http://ebmh.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/9/4/99?grp=1 by Jan Scott and others concludes that CBT does not reduce the overall episode recurrence. See http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/188/4/321 for a counter by Dominic Lam so it looks as if the professionals are slugging it out.
At the 2004 Bipolar Fellowship Scotland conference research psychiatrist Richard Day stated that medication plus a talking treatment was better than each one alone while at the 2005 conference keynote speaker and BFS advisor Gordon Mitchell highlighted the pittance of research money for psychological interventions compared to what is spent on medication.
Stewart