Understanding Treatment for Bipolar Disorder

At present, treatment for bipolar disorder is most often with a combination of a mood-stabilizing drug and psychotherapy. The main mood-stabilizing drugs used for the treatment of bipolar disorder include lithium carbonate, valproic acid (also known as Depakote) and carbamazepine (Tegretol), Lamictal, Topamax, Gabitril, and many other antiepileptic agents. They also include some newer antipsycohitic agents.

While drug treatment is primary, ongoing psychotherapy is important to help patients understand and accept the personal and social disruptions of past episodes and better cope with future ones. In addition, since denial is often a problem, routine psychotherapy helps patients stay on their medications. (Patient compliance is particularly tricky in adolescence.) Almost all forms of psychotherapy can be used — cognitive, behavioral, or psychodynamic; individual, family, or group therapy.

The family or spouse of a patient should be involved with any treatment. Having full information about the disease and its manifestations is important for both the patient and loved ones.
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Medications Used to Treat Bipolar Disorder

A cornerstone in the successful treatment of Bipolar Disorder is medication. Currently, there are dozens and dozens of medications approved for treating this disorder. There are also several medications used as an off-label treatment for bipolar disorder. Body chemistry and medication sensitive differ from person to person so there isn’t one specific medication that works for everyone and often several different medications are used together to treat bipolar disorder. This is known as a cocktail among bipolar sufferers and mental health professionals. The most common cocktail consists of mood stabilizers and anti-depressants.

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