Mindfulness Therapy on Disrupted Sleep in Bipolar Disorder

This intervention consists of 4 individual 60-minute sessions (week 1, 2, 4, and 6) in which participants learn the body scan meditation exercise and practice it at home, daily, lying in bed at their usual bedtime after going to bed (and when waking up at night, unable to go back to sleep). The Body-Scan meditation consists of a 30-minute exercise during which participants are guided to focus their attention on certain parts of their body (e.g. toes, feet). The core skill involves gradually adopting an observant, non-judgmental, and accepting stance towards bodily sensations, including feelings and thoughts.

SP is a common form of non-specific psychotherapy available to patients with bipolar disorder in the community. It focuses on addressing a patient's current concerns, supporting a patient's adaptive coping skills, improving self-esteem, and expressing feelings and the therapeutic alliance. Using a conversational style, SP involves conveying empathy, validation, comforting and supporting patients in coping with distress about current life issues as well as providing encouragement and praise, clarification and opportunity to vent. SP will match BS in length, number of sessions and delivery schedule (four, 60-minute sessions, week 1, 2, 4, 6).