mental disorder

People with bipolar disorder usually try mood stabilizers first. In general, people continue treatment with mood stabilizers for years. Lithium is a very effective mood stabilizer. It was the first mood stabilizer approved by the FDA in the 1970's for treating both manic and depressive episodes.
Anticonvulsant medications also are used as mood stabilizers. They were originally developed to treat seizures, but they were found to help control moods as well. One anticonvulsant commonly used as a mood stabilizer is valproic acid, also called divalproex sodium (Depakote). For some people, it may work better than lithium.6 Other anticonvulsants used as mood stabilizers are carbamazepine (Tegretol), lamotrigine (Lamictal) and oxcarbazepine (Trileptal).

Lithium is one of the oldest and least expensive mood-stabilizing mediations for bipolar disorder. Lithium is administered as a salt available under the generic names of lithium carbonate and lithium citrate. Available in capsule, tablet, or liquid form, lithium may have the trade name of Lithobid, Lithane, Lithonate, Lithotabs, Cibalith-S, and others.

Findings show that lithium is effective in reducing symptoms and frequency of episodes with a response rate of 70% to 80% for the initial manic phase of bipolar disorder. In addition, studies show that lithium effectively reduces the risk of suicide at least six fold.

If you take lithium, you need to have regular blood levels of the drug monitored along with monitoring of kidney tests and thyroid tests by your physician since the medication can be toxic to some people.