This study explored the perceptions of people hospitalized for bipolar disorder in regard to their difficulties in functioning and the most important problem with which they would like the hospital's help. One-hundred-twenty-two patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder completed the Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-32) at the beginning of their hospitalization. The relationships between subjective distress (measured by the BASIS-32 scores) and background characteristics were examined. In addition, participants' perceptions of their most important problems were coded as (1) psychiatric problems, (2) social or physical problems, or (3) no problems, and examined with respect to background characteristics. Race, admission status, and a secondary diagnosis of a substance use disorder were significantly related to overall subjective distress; a substance use disorder diagnosis was significantly related to all five BASIS subscale scores. No background variable was significantly related to the problems with which participants reported wanting the hospital's help, although admission status and race were of borderline significance.

1. The purpose of the Betty Ford Clinic (BFC) Professional in Residence (PIR) Inpatient Program is to increase participants' understanding and awareness of chemical dependency and its treatment. 2. Current alcoholism treatment is a combination of medical, psychosocial, psychological, and spiritual modalities interacting in a framework designed to help the individual achieve and sustain sobriety (Collins, 1993); all of these treatment components are evident in the BFC Model. 3. Double-blind studies are not conducted at the BFC for ethical reasons, which are one of the many difficulties inherent in the use of conventional control designs for assessing the treatment effectiveness of residential drug abuse programs (De Leon, Inciardi, & Martin, 1995).

1. This clinical report presents evaluations from 50 hospitalized dually diagnosed patients of the Addiction Education Group, a part of the inpatient dual diagnosis treatment program. 2. Patient satisfaction with the group was evaluated using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, an eight-item tool that measures reported satisfaction with services. 3. Generally, the patients were able to focus on issues of recovery as a group, provide and receive feedback from each other, and perceive the experience as beneficial.

1. The quest to understand how to live with the recurrent, major mental illness of bipolar disease is a pursuit not to be undertaken lightly. 2. Studies related to informational search in any clinical population, medical or psychiatric, are scant. 3. Individual and group work with this population needs to include discussion of how to obtain self-management information when out of the hospital, potential barriers that may be encountered in the pursuit of such information, and adaptive and maladaptive responses to barriers.

OBJECTIVE:To develop a descriptive theory of the information seeking states of hospitalized people with manic-depressive illness, as the first step in generating a substantive theory of the self-management informational needs and activities of this population.DESIGN:Exploratory, using grounded theory methodology.POPULATION, SAMPLE, SETTING:Predominantly indigent and ethnically-diverse population in one 250-bed, university-managed, county- and state-funded acute psychiatric facility in the Southwestern U.S.A. A convenient sample of 20 women and 13 men hospitalized for manic-depressive illness were interviewed from December 1992 through December 1993.METHODS:Interviews with participants and review of medical records. Interview transcriptions were analyzed using conceptual coding and the constant comparative method.FINDINGS:The core variable of information-seeking states was acceptance of having manic-depressive illness. Three groups are: information seekers, information receivers, and information rejectors. Seven informational states are: novice, recent acceptor, veteran, passive acceptor, acknowledged denier, acknowledged rejector, and complete rejector. An individual's information-seeking state is not necessarily constant, and may shift to another state depending upon various factors.CONCLUSIONS:This typology of information-seeking states is the first part of a substantive grounded theory of the self-management informational needs and activities of people trying to cope.CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS:Results of this study suggest that patient education should address a person's current information-seeking state. The proposed typology can be used to develop a self-assessment tool for completion by a patient before participating in educational or therapy programs.

1. Group therapy for outpatients with bipolar disorders is perceived as an effective adjunct to psychopharmacotherapy. Although medications to treat bipolar disorders have been well characterized and compliance usually results in good control of symptoms, the value of a group intervention program focusing on self-management has been ignored in inpatient treatment. 2. A patient workbook is being planned. This workbook is intended to impart additional information concerning self-management and free the therapist from devoting group time to individual didactic instruction. 3. Inpatients with bipolar disorders have responded favorably to diagnostically homogeneous group therapy. The data accumulated from their reports helped to formulate the Self-Management of Bipolar Disorder Group Model and this new model must be compared with the original model to ascertain effectiveness.

1. The results of this study suggest that inpatients with bipolar disorder consider diagnostically homogeneous group therapy to be beneficial. All the patients who responded to the overall helpfulness criterion indicated that the group was helpful to them, and most indicated that it was very helpful. 2. Although relating with others may have been important to participants, it is easy to appreciate that understanding the disorder would be a top priority for inpatients. 3. Inpatients with bipolar disorder might benefit from groups that are structured to include topic-oriented didactic and discussion components.

Women with mood disorders are faced with the complex interpersonal issues that confront all women, as well as the potential disruption in their interpersonal functioning related to the nature of their disorder and the medical treatment required. The purposes of this study were to describe the self-perceptions of 34 women being treated medically for mood disorders regarding (a) their interpersonal and sexual functioning, (b) the causal explanations for perceived disruptions in interpersonal and sexual functioning, and (c) the effect their mood disorder has had on their functioning in these areas. A structured questionnaire was used to conduct the in-depth interviews. Results indicated that 76.5% (n = 26) of the women perceived that they were experiencing interpersonal disruption, and 55.9% (n = 19) perceived that they were experiencing sexual disruption at the time of the interviews. Moreover, 88.2% (n = 30) reported that their mood disorder had an effect on their interpersonal relationships, and 79.4% (n = 27) reported that their mood disorder adversely affected their sexual relationships. Causal explanations related to the perceived disruptions in functioning were explored.

Hospitalized psychiatric patients frequently have deficits in their problem-solving abilities. An inpatient problem-solving group provides a therapeutic experience in which patients learn and apply the problem-solving process to practical and interpersonal difficulties they are presently experiencing. Two problem-solving group models, derived from cognitive-behavior theory, are suggested to accommodate diverse levels of inpatient functioning. Implications for nursing practice and recommendations are addressed.