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While most patients with bipolar disorder receive medications, fewer than half get psychotherapy. In a network meta-analysis (which allows for direct comparisons across studies), researchers examined outcomes in 39 randomized, controlled studies (3863 outpatients) that compared pharmacotherapy plus manual-based psychotherapy to control treatments combining pharmacotherapy with treatment as usual, which could involve unstructured psychotherapy or monitoring. Patients were not acutely ill when they were enrolled.
Manual-based psychotherapy added to pharmacotherapy was associated with close to a 50% reduction in recurrence than control treatments. Elements of effective therapies included family, conjoint, or group treatments versus individual t…