The Impact of Psychotropic Drugs on Psychosocial Functioning in Bipolar Disorder

Objective: Even though bipolar patients achieve remission, they do not reach premorbid psychosocial functioning. Factors such as residual depressive symptoms and number of episodes may cause this effect. The impact of treatment modalities has not been adequately studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of treatment modalities on psychosocial functioning in remitted bipolar patients.Methods: The study was carried out with 108 patients diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. All patients were in remission and the remission state was confirmed by rating scales. In the assessment of functioning, the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST) covering domains such as autonomy, occupational functioning, cognitive functioning, financial issues, interpersonal relations, and leisure time activities was applied. The treatment modalities were mood stabilizers (MS) versus mood stabilizers plus second-generation antipsychotics (MS+SGA). While 38% (n=41) of the patients were on MS only, 67 patients...