Impact of psycho-education on burden and other correlates of caregivers of patients suffering from bipolar mood disorder

Psycho education to family members has been emerged as an important prerequisite to modern psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation, since through psycho education many problematic areas related to patient care and compliance with the treatment can be successfully addressed. Being an indispensable adjunct to modern psychiatric treatment it is more efficacious in targeting all areas of patient's illness and functionality quite suitably than any single therapy based approach. Effects of bipolar disorder can be far-reaching, both into the lives of patients and those around them. Severe cognitive, emotional and behavioural dysfunctioning related to illness lead to burden, expressed emotion, life stress, avoidance coping, decreased quality of life and lesser social support in family members of patients because of their inability in understanding the meaning of psychiatric and neurological symptoms. Primary caregiver plays multiple role in care of the ill persons, not only they take day-to-day care of the patient, supervise medications, take the patient to the hospital and look after the financial needs but also they have to bear with the behavioral disturbances in the patient. Experiencing considerable stress and burden they might develop an unhealthy coping style which may adversely affect the caregiving function and their own health. Interventions techniques have proven efficacy in reducing relapse rates and negative impact of symptoms on caregivers and can diminish negative attitudes and increase the willingness in the caregivers in providing care to patients. Through intervention caregivers are imparted knowledge about illness, its course, etiology, warning signs and various ways of managing the patient during distress and dysfunctioning. Psychoeducational training is a way of offering help for caregivers, representing a forum for knowledge sharing, and in which the primary focus is on psychological themes aimed at carers developing coping skills and strategies. It helps caregivers to become skilled in closer monitoring of disease treatment and symptoms which can have major implication in the evolution of the disease over the long term. The goals of these efforts are educational, prevention and to promote psychological health among caregivers as well as the patients.