Youth With Bipolar Disorder Who Take Lithium May Be Less Likely To Attempt Suicide Than Those Who Take Other Mood Stabilizers, Research Suggests

Psychiatric News (7/31) reports, “Youth with bipolar disorder who take lithium may be less likely to attempt suicide than those who take other mood stabilizers,” researchers concluded after analyzing “longitudinal data collected from the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth…study, which included 413 youth aged seven to 17 who met criteria for DSM-IV bipolar spectrum disorders.” Next, investigators examined “data collected from 340 youth during 2,638 follow-ups to assess whether the youth who took lithium differed on these measures compared with those who took antimanic anticonvulsants, first- and second-generation antipsychotics, and/or lamotrigine.” The findings were published online July 29 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.