Goal

The goal of this session is to provide the patients in the group with a structured action plan if any decompensation begins. It is not a session designed to improve any symptoms by cognitive–behavioral intervention as, let us point out one more time, patients in psychoeducation must be euthymic. The goal of the session is prevention, that is, for our patients to learn techniques or acquire resources while they are euthymic that can later serve them during a decompensation.

Procedure

• In a single session we will discuss how to act with all types of decompensation. It is advisable not to mix up useful tips for mixed episodes, hypomania, and mania – which are practically the same – with tips for depression, as this may confuse our patients. Thus, we have to divide the session time in the most appropriate way according to our patient profile, and reinforce this or that point according to explicit requests from the group members. Our experience tells us that it is usually necessary to spend more time on mixed episodes, hypomania, and mania than depression. We will now relate the content of a session with 50 min spent on mixed episodes, hypomania, and mania and 30 min on depression, leaving you, the reader, to allocate the time in your own future groups.

• Before going into appropriate action at the start of a decompensation, we have to know what resources our patients have available for a mixed or (hypo)manic decompensation, so we can reinforce the right ones and advise against the wrong ones.