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Beyond Lithium: Other Treatments for Bipolar Disorder

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Abstract

When lithium was first discovered to be effective, initially for treating acute mania and later for bipolar depression and as a maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder, other therapeutic options were few. First-generation antipsychotics (FGAs), released in the mid-1950s, were unquestionably effective for treating acute mania, but patients often hated their side effects. Additionally, FGAs did not appear to be effective preventive treatments for bipolar disorder. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treated acute mania and acute depression, but both the side effects of this treatment, patients’ ambivalence about ECT, and its history of being used in a coercive manner limited its use. Finally, antidepressants, also released in the mid-1950s seemed to help bipolar depression but at the risk of causing a switch into mania.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universtät Dresden, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany

    Michael Bauer

  2. Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Michael Gitlin

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  1. Michael Bauer
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  2. Michael Gitlin
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Bauer, M., Gitlin, M. (2016). Beyond Lithium: Other Treatments for Bipolar Disorder. In: The Essential Guide to Lithium Treatment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31214-9_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31214-9_13

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