Impacts of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on the Psychological and Functional Wellbeing of Patients with Bipolar Disorders

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) strongly reduced psychic anxiety in people with bipolar disorder, especially those who were anxious or depressed before starting, but had no effect on somatic anxiety. Sleep quality and quality of life improved moderately. A slight increase in depressive, anxious, and manic symptoms was noted at week six of the eight-week program. Participants who completed at least half the sessions showed the benefits, and after treatment, initially anxious participants no longer differed from non-anxious ones.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background: This study investigated variations in psychic and somatic anxiety during and after completion of MBCT compared to baseline in patients diagnosed with BD. Secondary variables considered were sleep quality and quality of life, as well as depressive and manic symptoms. Methods: HAMD-29, HAMD-7 and YMRS were administered at baseline (n=34), and every two weeks until the end of the eight-week program. PSQI (n=22) and Q-LES-Q-SF (n=29) were also administered at pre, mid- and post- MBCT assessments. Results: Twenty-four (n=24) participants completed at least four out of the eight sessions of MBCT. Post-intervention relative to baseline, psychic anxiety dropped largely (Cohen d=0.74), whilst somatic anxiety remained unchanged (Cohen d=-0.01). In subgroups based on pre-MBCT mental status (anxious/non-anxious, depressed/non-depressed), anxious participants sustained a very strong decline in anxiety (Cohen d=1.67), enough so that they no longer differed from non-anxious participants post-MBCT (p=0.261). A similar post-MBCT convergence was observed between depressed vs. non-depressed participants at baseline (Cohen d=1.03). A slight surge of depressive, anxious, and manic symptoms was noted at Week 6. Sleep quality and quality of life improved post-MBCT relative to baseline with a moderate effect size (Cohen d=0.57 and 0.70, respectively). Conclusions: BD diagnosed participants with more symptoms of anxiety and depression at baseline appeared to benefit the most from MBCT. A strong effect on psychic anxiety was found, but none on somatic anxiety. Better sleep quality and quality of life were observed. Manic symptoms improved slightly. More research, especially randomized control trials, are warranted.