Neurobehavioral Rehabilitation and Mental Imagery Therapy for Mania and Cognitive Avoidance in Bipolar Disorder

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by severe mood fluctuations and maladaptive coping strategies, such as cognitive avoidance. This quasi-experimental study aimed to compare the effect of a neurobehavioral model-based psychological rehabilitation package and mental imagery-based therapy on manic symptom severity and cognitive avoidance in patients with BD. Methods: The study was conducted during the first half of ۲۰۲۵. Forty-five inpatients with BD at Golestan Hospital (Ahvaz, Iran) were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to three groups (n=۱۵ each): Neurobehavioral rehabilitation, mental imagery-based therapy, and control. The experimental groups received eight ۹۰-minute sessions. Data were collected using the mania symptom checklist (MSC) and the cognitive avoidance questionnaire (CAQ). Repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc tests were used for data analysis. Results: Both interventions were associated with significant reductions in manic symptom severity compared to the control group (P<۰.۰۰۱), with no significant difference between the two experimental groups. Regarding cognitive avoidance, significant differences were observed across subscales (P<۰.۰۵), with the neurobehavioral rehabilitation package showing greater improvement than mental imagery-based therapy in four out of five subscales. Conclusion: The findings suggest that both neurobehavioral rehabilitation and mental imagery-based therapy may be beneficial as adjunctive interventions for reducing manic symptoms and cognitive avoidance in patients with BD. Larger controlled trials are needed to confirm these results.

کلیدواژه ها:

Bipolar disorder (BD) ، Psychotherapy ، Mental imagery ، Cognitive avoidance ، Rehabilitation