Mood stabilizers are not the same thing as antidepressants. Both classes of medications are sometimes used to treat the various forms of depression. Antidepressant medications work to lift a mood up out of a depressive episode. Mood-stabilizing medications help to regulate mood and keep it from fluctuating either too high (into mania) or too low (into depression).
Lithium
The oldest and best mood stabilizer is lithium carbonate (lithium). Although this medication is primarily used to treat bipolar disorders, it can also be effective in helping with depressive symptoms. Sometimes, lithium is added on to an antidepressant medication treatment plan when antidepressants alone are not working.
Lithium is not a fun medication to take. Typical side effects include:
Lithium treatment also reduces thyroid function by preventing the release of thyroid hormones. This may make depression worse.
Lithium is also a potentially dangerous drug in that the dose necessary for it to offer antidepressant effects is uncomfortably close to its toxic dose. Toxic levels of lithium in the blood can cause slowed or stopped breathing, seizures, coma and even death.
Before taking lithium, a person will undergo a group of lab tests including:
To avoid lithium toxicity, people must have regular monitoring of their blood levels of lithium to make sure that they remain within an acceptable range. Blood lithium levels need to be monitored more frequently during the early stages of treatment. As treatment stabilizes, monitoring can occur every three to six months.
Lithium is by no means the only mood stabilizing medication in use today. Please consult our Bipolar Disorder topic center for a more complete list of mood stabilizing medications.
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