Syndicated from the Bipolar Blog Antidepressants may be less effective in treating bipolar depression than in treating unipolar depression. However, there are steps you can take to improve the effectiveness of your antidepressant regardless of the type of depression you’re feeling:

Bipolar disorder can be and often is misdiagnosed as unipolar depression (see "52 Percent of Bipolar Patients Receiving Antidepressants as First-Line Treatment?"). This could be a very dangerous misdiagnosis, because many antidepressants used to treat depression can trigger (or "unmask") mania, especially in people who really have Bipolar I. In other words, you could go into your doctor's office feeling depressed and as a result of the anti-depressants experience a manic episode.

According to the results of a recent survey conducted by Decision Resources ("one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues"), 52.3 percent of newly diagnosed bipolar disorder patients are prescribed antidepressant drugs first line. (See the press release “Astonishing 52 Percent of Newly Diagnosed Bipolar Disorder Patients Receive Antidepressant Drugs in First-Line Treatment.”)