Bipolar disorder: a review of current U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved pharmacotherapy

Abstract

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic disorder which usually has its onset in early adulthood. At one end of the spectrum is depression and at other is mania. Like many psychiatric illnesses, it is not treatable but its symptoms are completely manageable with medications. Commonly used drugs are mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics along with adjunctive medications such as anxiolytics and antidepressants. In general, a combination of these drugs is used for treatment. These drugs have significant adverse effects which add to the burden of the disease. Presently, there are 11 US Food and Drug Administration - approved drugs for management of acute mania, 3 for bipolar depression and 7 for bipolar maintenance. This review article details the use of these drugs in BD.