Abstract
In contrast to the consistent positive results seen with lithium in treating acute mania, regardless of the varied methodologies used, the efficacy of lithium for acute depression has been controversial from the earliest clinical observations. In Cade’s early work, lithium did not appear to be effective in treating chronic depression. A decade later, Schou also found little efficacy for lithium in treating endogenous depression (Johnson 1984). Even in 1968, Schou concluded that lithium is of little to no value in severe depression (Schou 1968). However, over the subsequent decade, a handful of studies revisited this issue with somewhat more encouraging results. As with the early studies in acute mania, methodological issues made the results of these early studies difficult to interpret. These included the mixture of unipolar and bipolar depressed patients, the small number of subjects, and the use of active comparators but not placebos in many studies. The results of some studies suggested that lithium might be more effective in bipolar depression than unipolar depression but this too was unclear.
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Bauer, M., Gitlin, M. (2016). Treatment of Depression with Lithium. In: The Essential Guide to Lithium Treatment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31214-9_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31214-9_7
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