The Effect of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy on Self-Management, Distress Tolerance and Feeling of Loneliness of Patients With Bipolar Disorder With a History of Psychiatric Hospitalization

Abstract

The present study was to find the effect of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) on self-management, distress tolerance and feeling of loneliness in patients with bipolar disorder who had a history of psychiatric hospitalization. The statistical population included all patients with bipolar disorder who had been hospitalized at the Khorshid Hospital in Isfahan, Iran. Participants were purposefully selected from the hospitalized patients. Then, 30 patients exhibiting deficiencies in self-management, distress tolerance and loneliness were selected and equally divided into experimental and control groups based on the inclusion criteria. The experimental group underwent DBT intervention for ten 90-min sessions, while the control group received no intervention. The Distress Tolerance Scale, Loneliness Scale and Self-Management Scale were administered to both groups at pre- and post-test and a 2-month follow-up of the study, and the obtained data were analysed by multivariate analysis of variance using SPSS26. The results indicated that DBT enhanced self-management and distress tolerance and reduced the feeling of loneliness in the experimental group. They acquired the necessary skills to manage emotions, improve interpersonal relationships and enhance their quality of life. Therefore, DBT can be utilized as a complementary treatment alongside pharmacotherapy for the treatment of bipolar disorder.