Abstract:
Bipolar disorder is a severe mental illness characterized by recurrent manic and depressive or mixed
episodes. Bipolar disorder leads to a significant impairment in functioning, considerable stigma and
premature mortality. The social disruption caused by acute episodes related to the illness often
persists beyond clinical remission. Various factors affect the outcome of bipolar disorder such as
distressing life events, substance use, poor coping mechanisms, sleep disturbance and treatment nonadherence.
Complementing pharmacotherapy with psychological interventions has been shown to
be more effective in preventing or delaying relapse and improving the course and outcome of the
disorder compared to pharmacotherapy alone. In LMICs, there is very limited evidence on the
adaptation, effectiveness and implementation of such psychological interventions. Furthermore,
there is limited understanding of the particular risk factors and coping mechanisms relevant to
LMICs that may be addressed with psychological interventions