Can Bipolar Disorder be treated with anti-depressants only?
Mood stabilizers, such as lithium, are usually prescribed first to treat mania and to prevent the return of both manic and depressive episodes. You may need to take a mood stabilizer for several years, or even for the rest of your life, to manage the illness. Your doctor may prescribe additional medicines—typically antipsychotics—to better control your symptoms Your doctor will vary the amounts and combinations of your medicines according to your symptoms, which type of bipolar disorder you have (bipolar I or II, rapid-cycling, or bipolar with mixed symptoms), and how you respond to the medicines A mood stabilizer and an antipsychotic are recommended as the first medicines for acute manic episodes. Anticonvulsants, such as valproate sodium (Depakene Syrup), divalproex (Depakote), and carbamazepine (Tegretol and Equetro), are also considered mood stabilizers What To Think About Antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (for example, Prozac), are used very carefully to treat depression because
