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Psychological approaches to bipolar disorders: a theoretical critique.

Power MJ

Section of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK. mjpower@staffmail.ed.ac.uk

An outline is presented of five main psychological models of the bipolar disorders. These approaches include the Behavioural Activation/Inhibition Systems model, the Cognitive Therapy model, the Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy model, the Interacting Cognitive Subsystems model, and the SPAARS model. Strengths and weaknesses are highlighted for each approach. It is concluded that although there is no model that can adequately account for even the key features of the bipolar disorders (such as periodicity, shifts in the valence of the self-concept, mixed affective states, and patterns of recovery and relapse), nevertheless, more recently developed multi-level approaches to emotion offer more sophisticated possibilities for modeling these complex disorders.

Published 8 November 2005 in Clin Psychol Rev, 25(8): 1101-22.
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