Barriers to accessing pain management services among veterans with bipolar disorder.

Objective: To identify barriers veterans with bipolar disorder face to accessing chronic pain management services within a Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system.

Data Sources And Study Setting: Veterans (n = 15) with chronic pain and bipolar disorder and providers (n = 15) working within a mid-Atlantic VA health care system. Data were collected from August 2017-June 2018.

Social functioning mediates the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and recovery among veteran and community service users with serious mental illness.

Objective: Previous research has established the impact of psychiatric symptoms on social functioning, while there is a paucity of research examining how social functioning relates to personal recovery, an individual's self-assessment of their mental health recovery. This study examined the mediating effect of social engagement, interpersonal communication, and satisfaction with support in the relationship between distinct psychiatric symptom clusters and perceived mental health recovery.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, both patient self-report and provider assessment data were collected for 250 patients with serious mental illness (SMI) across four mental health service sites.