Evaluating the Efficacy of Bipolar Disorder Medications on Suicide Prevention
Faculty Mentor
Ramaswamy Kannappan
Major/Area of Research
Pharmacy
Description
INTRODUCTION: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a psychological disorder that is characterized as a mood disorder, where the person experiences both extreme high episodes known as mania and also extreme depressive low, namely depression. BD is one of the largest risks for suicide in comparison to other mental disorders. Having major depression symptoms can lead a person to perform an act of self-harming, with the most severe incidents being suicide, and right before that is a suicide attempt. Thus, mood-stabilizer medications like Lithium, Lamotrigine, and Valproate are commonly prescribed to moderate the mood swings, depressive episodes, and manic episodes, respectively.
METHOD: A literature search was conducted on PubMed using Nested Knowledge for studies involving treatments used for bipolar disorder and suicide prevention rates. The treatments being focused on were Lithium, Valproate, and Lamotrigine.
RESULTS: Across the articles, there was an association between lithium and a reduction in the percentage of suicide attempts and suicide. Valproate, on the other hand, has an inconclusive trend where there was no increase in suicide attempts, but there was also no reduction in the percentage of suicide. This could potentially be backed since valproate is generally used for manic episodes, and there’s a greater association between depression and suicide. Not enough randomized controlled studies measured the outcome of suicide prevention for Lamotrigine, thus it cannot be directly compared with lithium and valproate.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The analysis of which medication is most impactful in preventing suicide can potentially help decrease the incidence rate of suicide in patients with BD. Even so, symptom resolution should be considered when deciding the best treatment option for BD patients.
Evaluating the Efficacy of Bipolar Disorder Medications on Suicide Prevention
INTRODUCTION: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a psychological disorder that is characterized as a mood disorder, where the person experiences both extreme high episodes known as mania and also extreme depressive low, namely depression. BD is one of the largest risks for suicide in comparison to other mental disorders. Having major depression symptoms can lead a person to perform an act of self-harming, with the most severe incidents being suicide, and right before that is a suicide attempt. Thus, mood-stabilizer medications like Lithium, Lamotrigine, and Valproate are commonly prescribed to moderate the mood swings, depressive episodes, and manic episodes, respectively.
METHOD: A literature search was conducted on PubMed using Nested Knowledge for studies involving treatments used for bipolar disorder and suicide prevention rates. The treatments being focused on were Lithium, Valproate, and Lamotrigine.
RESULTS: Across the articles, there was an association between lithium and a reduction in the percentage of suicide attempts and suicide. Valproate, on the other hand, has an inconclusive trend where there was no increase in suicide attempts, but there was also no reduction in the percentage of suicide. This could potentially be backed since valproate is generally used for manic episodes, and there’s a greater association between depression and suicide. Not enough randomized controlled studies measured the outcome of suicide prevention for Lamotrigine, thus it cannot be directly compared with lithium and valproate.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The analysis of which medication is most impactful in preventing suicide can potentially help decrease the incidence rate of suicide in patients with BD. Even so, symptom resolution should be considered when deciding the best treatment option for BD patients.