Pharmacological issues in the treatment of bipolar disorder: focus on mood-stabilizing compounds.

The acute and chronic pharmacotherapy of bipolar disorder requires an understanding of the pharmacology of very dissimilar compounds--the mood stabilizers (lithium, carbamazepine and valproate) and several classes of antidepressants. No definitive data are available on the primary mode of action of mood stabilizers, and those used show no single pharmacological property. On the other hand, the pharmacokinetics and dynamics of these compounds are well studied.