A number of medications are used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and are chosen based on the patient’s particular symptoms and goals. During the initial assessment, we can start to build a treatment plan based off the patient’s symptoms. Medications can include mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, antidepressants, antidepressant-antipsychotics or anti-anxiety medications. Mood stabilizers are needed to control manic and hypomanic episodes.

Antipsychotics are used to treat symptoms of depression or mania if they persist in spite of other treatments. Adding an antipsychotic medication can help improve symptoms alone or in conjunction with a mood stabilizer.

Antidepressants are used to treat a wide array of mental disorders, but can be particularly effective in managing depressive episodes that come with bipolar disorder. Because antidepressants have the ability to trigger and manic episode, they are typically prescribed with a mood stabilizer.