Integration of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for bipolar disorder.

There is no question that pharmacotherapy is the treatment of choice for bipolar disorder. However. an integration of psychotherapeutic techniques with pharmacotherapy has been recommended by the American Psychiatric Association practice guideline for the treatment of bipolar disorder. Psychotherapy aims to address risk factors and associated features that are difficult to address with pharmacotherapy alone. The most common psychotherapeutic approaches added to pharmacotherapy for bipolar disorder include psychoeducation, individual cognitive-behavioral therapy, marital and family interventions, individual interpersonal therapy, and adjunctive therapies such as those for substance use. Each of these approaches is described in detail, and research regarding their efficacy is presented.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and childhood abuse in battered women: comparisons with maritally distressed women.

In the present study, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence rates were compared among 50 battered women and 37 maritally distressed women who had not experienced battering (N = 87). Participants were administered R. Spitzer and I. B. S. Williams's (1985) Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-III-R (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [3rd ed., rev.]) to assess PTSD status and previous traumatic experiences in addition to other standardized measures of PTSD and violence exposure. Battered women exhibited significantly higher rates of PTSD than maritally distressed women (58% vs. 18.9%). Although both groups had similar rates of previous trauma experiences, women with a PTSD-positive status (both battered women and maritally distressed women) were significantly more likely to have experienced self-reported childhood sexual abuse and a higher overall number of previous traumas than those with a PTSD-negative status. Battering exposure and childhood sexual abuse predicted 37% of the variance in overall PTSD intensity levels.

Posttraumatic stress disorder in victimization-related trauma.

Symptom manifestations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are explained in light of current research findings. Assessment methods for evaluating PTSD and trauma exposure are presented and implications for treatment are discussed.

Posttraumatic stress disorder among battered women: risk and resiliency factors.

This study proposed that diagnosable levels of PTSD would be found among battered women and that the level of exposure to violence in the battering relationship would be an important contributing factor to the development of PTSD while other pre-trauma and post-trauma variables such as social support, intercurrent life events, religiosity, and developmental family stressors would also be related to PTSD symptom levels. Fifty-three battered women were given standardized self-report measures to assess these variables. As hypothesized, a significant proportion of battered women in the sample were diagnosed as PTSD positive. Multiple regression analyses revealed that violence exposure severity, recency of the last abusive episode, social support, intercurrent life events, intrinsic religiosity, and developmental family stressors predicted 43% of the variance in PTSD symptomatology.