Bipolar Disorders 2003-12-01

Mood-stabilizers: the archeology of the concept.

Margaret Harris, Summit Chandran, Nabonita Chakraborty, David Healy

Index: Bipolar Disord. 5(6) , 446-52, (2003)

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Abstract

To review the history of 'mood-stabilizing' treatments.We have reviewed primary source data on the origin of the use of current mood-stabilizers.This historical record on the origins of the mood-stabilizers points to a more ambiguous picture as regards pharmacotherapeutic specificity to bipolar disorders than is commonly conceded.This review suggests a need for alternative formulations of the concept of a mood-stabilizer. An alternative to the currently dominant paradigm is that these agents have treatment effects, which need to be matched more precisely with patients' constitutional types in order to optimize outcomes.