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A bottle of lithium capsules. Lithium is the prototypical mood stabilizer. A mood stabilizer is a psychiatric medication used to treat mood disorders characterized by intense and sustained mood shifts, such as bipolar disorder and the bipolar type of schizoaffective disorder.
John Frederick Joseph Cade AO [1] [2] [3] (18 January 1912 – 16 November 1980) was an Australian psychiatrist who in 1948 discovered the effects of lithium carbonate as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of bipolar disorder, then known as manic depression.
Certain lithium compounds, also known as lithium salts, are used as psychiatric medication, [5] primarily for bipolar disorder and for major depressive disorder. [5] Lithium is taken orally (by mouth). [5] Common side effects include increased urination, shakiness of the hands, and increased thirst. [5]
Lithium citrate was removed from 7Up in 1948 [5] after the Food and Drug Administration banned its use in soda. [6] Lithium citrate is used as a mood stabilizer and is used to treat mania, hypomania, depression and bipolar disorder. [7] It can be administered orally in the form of a syrup. [7]
Lithium and the anticonvulsants carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and valproic acid are classed as mood stabilizers due to their effect on the mood states in bipolar disorder. [115] Lithium has the best overall evidence and is considered an effective treatment for acute manic episodes, preventing relapses, and bipolar depression.
Antipsychotics are drugs used to treat various symptoms of psychosis, such as those caused by psychotic disorders or schizophrenia. Atypical antipsychotics are also used as mood stabilizers in the treatment of bipolar disorder , and they can augment the action of antidepressants in major depressive disorder . [ 22 ]
The history of the medications used in mental disorders has developed a lot through years. The discovery of modern drugs prevailed during the 20th century. Lithium, a mood stabilizer, was discovered as a treatment of mania, by John F. Cade in 1949, "and Hammond (1871) used lithium bromide for 'acute mania with depression'". [14]
A 2008 Cochrane systematic review found limited evidence to support the use of Omega-3 fatty acids to improve depression but not mania as an adjunct treatment for bipolar disorder. Omega-3 fatty acids may be found in fish, fish oils , algae , and to a lesser degree in other foods such as flaxseed , flaxseed oil and walnuts .