Proper medication is essential to this treatment, and psychotherapy may also be helpful. The most common medication, lithium carbonate, successfully reduces the number and intensity of manic episodes for 70 percent of those who take the medication. Twenty percent of those who use lithium become completely free of symptoms. Those who respond best to lithium are patients who have a family history of depressive illness and who have periods of relatively normal mood between their manic and depressive phases. Very effective in treating the manic phase, lithium also appears to prevent repeated episodes of depression.
Lithium works by bringing various neurotransmitters in the brain into balance.
Scientists think the medication may affect the impact neurotransmitters have on the brain cells, thus altering moods. Like all medications, lithium can have side effects and must be carefully monitored by a psychiatrist . The physician should measure the level of lithium in the patient's blood and determine how well the patient's kidneys and thyroid gland are working. Among the side effects are weight gain, excessive thirst and urination, stomach and intestinal irritation, hand tremors, and muscular weakness. If a patient overdoses on medication, it may cause confusion, delirium, seizures, coma and may result, rarely, in death.