title: Lithium prophylaxis and interepisode mood. A prospective longitudinal comparison of euthymic bipolars and non-patient controls.
abstract: The mood stabilizing effect of lithium prophylaxis was investigated in a longitudinal design. Eighteen euthymic bipolar outpatients using lithium and 20 non-patient controls completed 13 weekly mood ratings. Groups did not differ in biographical characteristics and pre-test manic and depressive symptomatology. Apart from a higher mean happiness rating in the patient group, no statistically significant differences were found on most mood scores between groups, nor was there a group difference in variability over time. It is concluded that lithium prophylaxis does not have an extreme mood normalizing effect in well-controlled bipolars.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, Academic Hospital, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Bouman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.forename: I H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Koopmans
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
chemical_list: D008094:Lithium