Psychiatric Management for Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder characterized by alternating episodes of extreme depression and mania.
There are times that an individual who has the mental disorder feel extremely happy, selfish, agitated, and always on the move! This is the manic phase or episode of the disorder.
And a couple of hours later, he withdraws, feels weak and extremely sad, indifferent and oftentimes cry. This is obviously the depressive state of the illness.
Different therapies may shorten, delay, or even prevent the extreme moods caused by bipolar disorder. Lithium carbonate, a natural mineral salt, can help control both mania and depression in bipolar disorder.
Lithium generally takes two to three weeks to become effective. People with bipolar disorder may take lithium during periods of relatively normal mood to delay or prevent subsequent episodes of mania or depression. Common side effects of lithium include nausea, increased thirst and urination, vertigo, loss of appetite, and muscle weakness. In addition, long-term use can impair functioning of the kidneys.
For this reason, doctors do not prescribe lithium to bipolar patients with kidney disease. Many people find the side effects so unpleasant that they stop taking the medication, which often results in relapse.
Not all who take lithium though have positive results. We can have 20 to 40 percent probability that the lithium therapy can give no improvement on the mental illness. On these patients, two anticonvulsant drugs may help dampen severe manic episodes: valproate, brand name Depakene; or, carbamazepine; brand name Tegretol. The use of traditional antidepressants to treat bipolar disorder can give have paradoxical effects which is the triggering of a manic episode or a rapid-cycling pattern.