Comment les thérapies cognitivo-comportementales préviennent les rechutes chez le patient bipolaire

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for bipolar affective disorder is specifically designed to increase mood stabilizer observance and help prevent depression and manic episodes. This article reports different behavioural and cognitive tools generally used to reduce the frequency of such relapses. We first briefly present behavioural techniques (mood and activities recording, grading tasks prescription, problem solving techniques, etc.), and we then examine cognitive techniques such as detecting cognitions, cognitive bias and cognitive schemas. Lam et al's. (1999) Group Cognitive Therapy for bipolar disorder represents the international reference, and includes work on schemas and on their evolution after CBT. Newman et al. (2002) also use cognitive schemas, but their work is based more on Young's model (1994). Behavioural-cognitive techniques thus allow patients with bipolar affective disorder to gain several tools for the better management of personal, social and professional stress factors.