Medications and Supplements

What is a Mood Stabilizer Medication?

Virginia J. Duffy PhD, Nurse Practitioner in Psychiatry

Mood stabilizers are medications that are used with Bipolar I disorder. They are used to help keep a person’s mood in a middle ground. The extremes of mania and depression are part of the struggle for those with Bipolar I disorder.

It is important to remember that mood stabilizers are used for prevention and do not work quickly to treat either end of the mood continuum. When someone is manic they often need an antipsychotic to help them calm down more quickly. The antipsychotic can sometimes be discontinued after a few weeks or months once the mood stabilizer has been in the person’s system for a while.

Treating depression with mood stabilizers is more difficult. Most mood stabilizers are not effective at managing depression. Antidepressant use in Bipolar I is a concern as it can “switch” a person to mania. This does not usually occur if the patient is taking a concurrent mood stabilizer.

What are the Mood Stabilizers Drugs?

The “Gold Standard of mood stabilizers is still Lithium Carbonate (LiCo3). It is the drug that is used as a comparison when evaluating the effects of other mood stabilizers. Lithium is an electrically charged atom that occurs naturally in the body. All of the mood stabilizers except LiCo3 are in the anticonvulsant class. The ones most commonly used include:

• Valproic Acid (Depakote)
• Carbamazepine (Tegretol)
• Lamotrigine (lamictal)

All mood stabilizers will require some type of blood work when starting them and for maintenance.

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