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Bipolar Disorder

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The Practitioner’s Guide to Psychoactive Drugs

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Abstract

Lithium (Eskalith® and others), a naturally occurring salt, has been used for various medical purposes since the 1800s. Initially, it was given to patients who suffered from urinary calculi and gout. Later, it was combined with bromides and used as a sedative. In 1949, Cade observed that lithium calmed agitated psychotic patients: ten manic patients responded, six schizophrenic and chronically depressed psychotic patients did not, and one patient’s symptoms reappeared after lithium was stopped.1 During this same period, lithium was introduced in the United States as a salt substitute for cardiac patients, but it caused numerous toxic reactions and several deaths. Thus, even with the emergence of convincing evidence that lithium was safe and effective in manic depressive illness, it was not accepted in the United States until 1970.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, Arizona, 85724, USA

    Alan J. Gelenberg M.D.

  2. Newton Centre, Schoonover Associates, Massachusetts, 02159, USA

    Stephen C. Schoonover M.D.

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  1. Alan J. Gelenberg M.D.
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  2. Stephen C. Schoonover M.D.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Alan J. Gelenberg M.D.

  2. The Better Homes Foundation, Newton Centre, Massachusetts, USA

    Ellen L. Bassuk M.D.

  3. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Ellen L. Bassuk M.D.

  4. Schoonover Associates, Newton Centre, Massachusetts, USA

    Stephen C. Schoonover M.D.

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Gelenberg, A.J., Schoonover, S.C. (1991). Bipolar Disorder. In: Gelenberg, A.J., Bassuk, E.L., Schoonover, S.C. (eds) The Practitioner’s Guide to Psychoactive Drugs. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1137-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1137-0_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-1139-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-1137-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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