Brief Discussion Comparing Mood Stabilizers
Brief Discussion Comparing Mood Stabilizers
Below is a very brief overview of the three classes of mood stabilizers:
Anticonvulsant Mood Stabilizers: Depakote and Tegretol are two anticonvulsants that have mood stabilizing effects, helping the high energy excitability, anger, aggression, agitation, and anxiety associated with mood swings and helps stabilize the moods, but they do little for the low energy depressed, slowed down, lack of drive or motivation phase , of up and down mood disorders. Lamictal is another mood stabilizing anticonvulsant that is a standalone antidepressant and unlike the SSRI type medications wont worsen mood swings or aggravate aggression, however it only has limited usefulness in severe high energy aggressive agitated anxious phase.
Brain Mineral Lithium as Mood Stabilizer: Lithium Carbonate a naturally occurring mineral that is in everyone’s brain is in a class by itself, is most helpful in people who have in a sense mood swing disorders or aggressive or depressive disorders that may be caused by a relative lithium deficiency in the brain. There is no way of knowing who may have good lithium responsiveness except by doing a therapeutic trial ,though family history may help. People who are lithium responsive develop very few if any side effects except thirst and a mild tremor, and are helped greatly . Others who are not responsive have very little helpful effect and many negative effects such as nausea, diarrhea, foggy feeling, muscle cramps and other such effects that outweigh whatever good effects may be occurring. Lithium is the only substance that has been proven statistically to prevent suicide and its attempts, and because of this to find if one will have a good response to it, it is worth trying. Often people who have had little good effects from it when re-challenged have good response, with lithium having life changing and perhaps life saving effects. Lithium especially useful for high energy phase of mood swings for racing thoughts, excitability, aggression, and the too good feelings of mania. Some get a moderate antidepressant effect, including preventing recurrent depression.
Advantages of Atypical Neuroleptics as Mood Stabilizers: The main advantage is that unlike the other mood stabilizers it can work on the all three part of mood swing disorders. It helps the highs, the lows and stabilizes the mood. Also if psychotic symptoms are present they will be helped. It does this in most people whether the disorder is mild or severe. Lithium may also do this but mostly in responsive people whose symptoms are moderate to severe, , and Lamictal may do this if the high energy symptom are on the milder side. The older typical neuroleptics help mostly with the high energy phases, and can be very effective if aggressiveness is the main problem. The other advantages are safety, ease of use, with a very favorable side effect profile and no need for blood work. Also because of their broad spectrum of functions and effects if there are significant anxiety symptoms and those of Unipolar depression they may helped without the need for other medications