Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (ISRT) or simply Social rhythm therapy is a type of behavioral therapy used to treat the disruption in circadian rhythms that is related to bipolar disorder. ISRT provides a biopsychosocial model for bipolar disorder and recognizes that the illness cannot be fully treated with medication alone, although it is biologically based. It postulates that stressful events, disruptions in circadian rhythms and personal relationships, and conflicts arising out of difficulty in social adjustment often lead to relapses.
The idea was developed by Ellen Frank at the University of Pittsburgh who published a book on her theories: Treating Bipolar Disorder, a Clinician's Guide Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy. She found that solving interpersonal problems and maintaining regular daily rhythms in activities such as sleeping, waking, eating, and exercise can increase quality of life, reduce symptoms, and help prevent relapse. In most cases, the patients continue to receive medications.
Famous quotes containing the words therapy, rhythm and/or social:
“Show business is the best possible therapy for remorse.”
—Anita Loos (1888–1981)
“The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish. At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the painful slavery of both men and machines, you see that it is nothing but a kind of typical, empty anguish that makes even crime and gangs forgivable means of escape.”
—Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)
“The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)