Bipolar disorder is a recurrent and chronic disorder with significant
morbidity and
mortality. Currently, pharmacological
treatment is considered indispensable in
bipolar disorder. However, despite advances in this area,
treatment remains suboptimal. A large body of
research has shown that innumerable
psychosocial factors influence the emergence of
mood disorders. Therefore, in addition to pharmacological
strategies,
psychological interventions are increasingly recognized as an essential component in the
treatment of bipolar
patients. Among the various approaches of
psychosocial interventions, psychoeducation (PE) has been one of the most used. Thus, the aim of this
review was to evaluate the
efficacy of PE in the
clinical course,
treatment adherence, and
psychosocial functioning of bipolar
patients by collecting data from controlled trials that used solely PE as a psychosocial approach. A
systematic review of the
literature was performed in the
PubMed and SCOPUS databases, without date limits, using the following
keywords Psychoeducation and
Bipolar disorder. We found 13 randomized controlled trials. Psychoeducation significantly improved the
clinical course,
treatment adherence, and
psychosocial functioning of bipolar
patients. It also reduced the number of
relapses and
recurrences per
patient and increased the
time to depressive, manic, hypomanic, and mixed
recurrences. The number and length of
hospitalizations per
patient were also lower in
patients who received PE. Although we found a limited number of randomized controlled trials that evaluated the
efficacy of PE in
bipolar disorder, the studies showed positive results in reducing
relapse rates and improving long-term
treatment adherence. Additionally, PE intervention improves the
knowledge of the illness for both
patients and
caregivers to reduce their distress and improve overall
social functioning.