APA BIPOLAR DISORDER GUIDELINE LISTS LITHIUM AS FIRST CHOICE

Executive Summary

APA BIPOLAR DISORDER GUIDELINE LISTS LITHIUM AS FIRST CHOICE line of therapy, but notes that the newer drugs valproic acid and carbamazapine are also good first choices of treatment, depending on the patient. The American Psychiatric Association, which released its first guideline "for the treatment of patients who have had at least one episode of mania (i.e. Bipolar I Disorder)," said at a Dec. 7 press conference that the guidelines are designed to help psychiatrists diagnose and treat the disease, also known as manic-depressive illness. Bipolar Disorder occurs in approximately 3 mil. American adults, or 1.6% of the U.S. population, according to a recent National Depressive & Manic Depressive Association survey.