What Are Bipolar Meds?

Approximately 5.7 million American adults suffer from bipolar disorder, a mental illnesses marked by severe mood swings or emotional highs and lows, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. In addition to psychotherapy, many patients with bipolar disorder benefit from the use of bipolar meds.

Identification

• A bipolar med is a prescription medication used to alleviate the symptoms of bipolar disorder. There are no drugs that are approved solely for use in the treatment of bipolar disorder, so bipolar meds often have other, primary uses.

Function

• Some types of bipolar meds work to stabilize the person's mood and prevent episodes of mania or depression. Others help the person sleep or relax as both depression and mania may cause insomnia.

Types

• Bipolar meds include mood stabilizers such as lithium or quetiapine, anti-seizure medications such as valproic acid and divalproex, antipsychotics such as olanzapine and risperidone and benzodiazepines such as clonazepam.

Time Frame

• It is not uncommon for patients with bipolar disorder to use a bipolar med for the rest of their lives in order to control their symptoms, reports the Mayo Clinic. With therapy, they may be able to decrease the dosage of the medication, however.

Warning

• Though once widely used for the treatment of bipolar disorder, antidepressant medications are now considered unsafe in the treatment of bipolar disorder by many doctors. This is because these drugs have been found to actually induce periods of mania, explains the Mayo Clinic.

Considerations

• Patients may need to try several bipolar meds before finding one that effectively relieves symptoms, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.