What medication is available?

The information presented in this section is available to download in our “Introduction To Medical Treatment For Bipolar" leaflet. Always seek medical advice from your doctor when making decisions about your medication.

There is a range of different drugs used to treat bipolar. The medications used will depend on the nature and degree of your symptoms and the phase of the illness you are in.

Bipolar is also associated with other problems such as sleep disturbance that may require additional medication. Drug treatment is the cornerstone of treating bipolar, but there are many other aspects to keeping well.

Medications commonly used are:

• Drugs for mood stabilisation or mood maintenance
• Drugs when high (hypomania or mania)
• Drugs for bipolar depression
• Drugs used for associated problems

Scientific evidence shows that how effective a medication is (or how effective different combinations of medications are) varies significantly for each individual. People can respond differently to the same drug and an individual’s response to a drug can change over time. There are a variety of side effects and different people will experience these in different ways. There are also new drugs being developed for bipolar all the time.

Be Safe. Never change your medication without speaking with your doctor first.