Better Sleep in Psychiatric Care - Bipolar. A Randomized Naturalistic Study of a Psychological Group Treatment for Sleep Problems in Psychiatric Patients With Bipolar Disorder

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is treatment of choice for insomnia. Many patients in psychiatric care have sleep problems including insomnia, but are rarely given the choice to participate in CBT to improve their sleep. Patients with Bipolar disorder is a patient group with high levels of sleep difficulties. Sleep problems in this patient group can be both more general such as insomnia, but can also be related to the Bipolar disorder. Other research groups have studied the use of behaviorally sleep treatments in patients with Bipolar disorder, but more studies are needed. In a previous pilot study, the investigators of the current study developed a CBT protocol that would target sleep problems in this population. The basis was CBT for insomnia (CBT-i), but with more emphasis on achieving sleep promoting behaviors specific to Bipolar patients, for instance techniques that would also alleviate sleep phase problems, (e.g. the systematic use of light and darkness), and techniques to target more general sleep related problems (e.g. difficulties waking up in the morning), that are also common in patients with Bipolar disorder. This treatment was well tolerated and gave moderate effects on insomnia severity in the pilot study. In a naturalistic randomized controlled trial, the investigators now evaluate the effects of this psychological treatment on sleep and Bipolar symptoms in patients at the departments of Affective disorders, Northern Stockholm Psychiatry and Southwest Psychiatry, Stockholm, Sweden.