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Antimanic Medications
Bipolar disorder is a serious condition characterized by cycling mood changes: pronounced highs (mania) and extreme lows (depression). These "highs" and "lows" vary in intensity and severity and the cycles may be predominantly manic or depressive with normal mood between cycles.
When someone is in a manic "high," they may be overactive, overtalkative, and have a great deal of energy. They will switch quickly from one topic to another, as if they can’t get their thoughts out fast enough. Their attention span is often short, and they can be easily distracted. Sometimes the person in a manic state is irritable or angry and has false or inflated ideas. They may be very elated and full of grand schemes. Often, a person in a manic state exercises poor or self-destructive judgment. Mania, if left untreated, may worsen to a psychotic state.
Depression will show in a "low" mood with pronounced lack of energy, changes in eating and sleeping patterns, feelings of hopelessness, sadness, guilt, and sometimes thoughts of suicide.
It is unusual to find mania without a subsequent or preceding period of depression. Antimanic medications "even out" mood swings in both directions. They are not just used for acute manic attacks or flare-ups of the illness, but are prescribed as an ongoing treatment of bipolar disorder.
Antimanic medications include:
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