Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part A (2024)

Background: Bipolar Disorder were no longer viewed as victims of pathological family environments but rather, individuals with genetically based disorders who often lived in families that were distressed because of their lack of access to information on effective. Utilizing a “biopsychosocial” framework, family-based approaches to bipolar disorder seek to balance protective and risk factors in the social and family environments. Family psychosocial treatments for early onset bipolar disorder attempt to catch families when conflict and criticism play their most influential role on the development of emotional competence.
Objective: The present study aims to assess the Family Focused Therapy in reducing the level of stress and increasing quality of life for key caregivers of BPAD with history of frequent relapses.
Methodology: The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of Family Focused Therapy on reducing stress levels and enhancing quality of life among key caregivers of individuals with bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) who have experienced frequent relapses.
Results: Caregivers in the Experimental group were notably older (mean age = 36.70 years) compared to the Normal control group (mean age = 26.10 years), with significant differences noted (t = 3.423, p = 0.003). Initially, both groups reported similar stress levels related to caregiver issues, family concerns, and financial stressors. However, after intervention, caregivers in the Experimental group reported significantly reduced stress in caregiver and family issues (p = 0.000 and p = 0.047, respectively). Quality of life assessments at baseline showed no significant differences, but following family therapy, the Experimental group showed marked improvements in overall quality of life, physical health, psychological well-being, social relationships, and environmental satisfaction (all p ≤ 0.006) compared to controls. 
Conclusion: The present study highlights that intervention should be the primary concern for caregivers of individuals with frequently relapsing bipolar disorder. It is well-established that interventions can increase well-being and quality of life (QoL) while reducing stress. However, the impact of such interventions on bipolar disorder (BD) has been less extensively studied.