Do antidepressants ever act as mood stabilizers for some patients?
I would argue that antidepressants and antipsychotics are not mood stabilizers, despite the popularity of using the term broadly in this manner. I think antidepressants never have a stabilizing effect in bipolar type I disorder. The issue is whether they might be effective by themselves in some patients with type II bipolar depression or in the broad bipolar spectrum concept. In that respect, I think some people might respond to antidepressants alone. However, I still think the vast majority of those people still would do better with a mood stabilizer at least combined with an antidepressant, if not a mood stabilizer alone.
