Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Case Examples

Major Depression and Concurrent General Medical Illness
A woman requested a consultation with a psychiatrist for her 79-year-old husband, who she said was depressed.…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Continuation-Phase Procedures
Once a patient has achieved a full response, the continuation phase begins and lasts for 4-6 months. Patients are usually seen every 4-6 weeks during this phase. The…

Medication Treatment of Depression: Applications and Procedures

Acute-Treatment Phase
The treatment of depression has undergone considerable review, and consensus guidelines have been published. These work groups have attempted to arrive at a consensus…

Pharmacological Effects Responsible for Common Side Effects of Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications

Common Early-Occurring Side Effects (First 6 Weeks)
The majority of early-occurring side…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Continuation- and Maintenance-Phase Efficacy
Most experts now agree that the majority of patients with a mood disorder will have more than one episode. Recurrence rates for depression are…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Newer Anticonvulsants
Because many patients with bipolar disorder have a less than satisfactory response to available medication treatments, clinicians will often begin to experiment with new medications before they have…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Antipsychotic Drugs
Antipsychotic drugs were some of the first drugs used to treat acute mania, and numerous studies have shown their effectiveness. Although the onset of action of antipsychotic drugs…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Carbamazepine
Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant drug structurally related to the TCAs. As with the TCAs, its absorption and metabolism are variable. Carbamazepine is rapidly absorbed, with peak plasma levels occurring within…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Valproic Acid
Valproic acid (di-n-propylacetic acid) is an anticonvulsant drug chemically unrelated to other psychiatric medications. It is produced in various preparations, including syrup, sprinkles, capsules, enteric-coated capsules, and tablets.…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Drugs With Mixed Pharmacological Properties
The drugs in this category (trazodone, nefazodone, amoxapine, clomipramine, and mirtazapine) have multiple pharmacologically relevant effects. These include combinations of monoamine reuptake…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Lithium
Lithium was available and used medically in the early 1800s as a treatment for gout, diabetes, and epilepsy, and it was used in the 1870s to treat mood disorders, which…

Antimanic Medications: Pharmacological Properties and Evidence for Acute-Phase Efficacy

In comparison with the data available for the use of antidepressant drugs in the treatment of major depressive disorder,…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Monoamine-Releasing Agents
Monoamine-releasing agents are also categorized as psychostimulants and primarily include amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylphenidate, and pemoline. They cause the release of and weakly block the reuptake of NE, DA,…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors
The MAOIs are some of the earliest developed antidepressant drugs. The initial enthusiasm that followed their discovery in the late 1950s was tempered by reports of…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Monoamine Reuptake Inhibitors
Inhibition of monoamine reuptake at presynaptic nerve terminals defines this group of drugs, which includes the original TCAs, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and the…

Antidepressant Medications: Pharmacological Properties and Evidence for Acute-Phase Efficacy

Classification of Antidepressant Drugs and Overview of Their Mechanism of Action
Many strategies have been applied to the…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Contraindications to Use of Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications

There are few contraindications to antidepressant or antimanic medication treatment. Those that do exist are mostly related…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Indications for Use of Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications

Antidepressant Medications
Treatment should follow careful physical and psychological assessment and diagnosis. In most circumstances this…

Antidepressant and Antimanic Medications: Diagnostic Indications and Contraindications
The terms antidepressant and antimanic imply selectivity and specificity to depression and mania, respectively. It is increasingly clear, however, that this is not the…