[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Sitting: Peter Smole and Roman Peklaj and Maja Valic; Standing: Joe Kraynak, Darja Budja, Cecie Kraynak, Emi Kladnik, Ana Sorc, and Katja Jus"][/caption] Cecie and I were invited to visit Ljubljana (lyoo-blee-ah-nah), Slovenia for the release of the Slovene edition of Bipolar Disorder for Dummies. We accepted and have been in Slovenia since this past Thursday, 10/8/2009. We flew into Venice on Thursday to meet our gracious hosts, Darja Budja ("j" is pronounced "y") and her husband Simon Perko. Darja translated the book into Slovene and is a devoted bipolar advocate. She has created her own bipolar blog (bipolarna.si) and is one of the organizers of an active bipolar support group in Ljubljana.

Welcome to Bipolar Medication Spotlight, where we shine the light on medications used to treat bipolar disorder and other symptoms often related to bipolar disorder. Two weeks ago, we covered the benzodiazepines (or benzos for short) – a class of powerful and fast-acting anxiolytics (tranquilizers) used to calm the nerves in the midst of a panic attack. This week, we turn our attention to a gentler anxiolytic – BuSpar (buspirone).

Over the past year or so, this sort-of-biweekly series has shined the spotlight on a host of medications used to treat the two poles of bipolar disorder. The medications and medication classes we have covered so far include lithium, anti-seizure medications (including Depakote and Lamictal), antipsychotics and atypical antipsychotics (including Zyprexa and Seroquel), SSRI antidepressants (including Prozac and Paxil), SSNRI antidepressants (including Cymbalta and Effexor), and the older Tricyclics and MAOI's for treating depression. This week, we shift gears to start our coverage of medications not exactly designed for treating mania or depression but that nevertheless may come in very handy for treating symptoms that often accompany bipolar disorder and may contribute to its severity – symptoms such as anxiety and sleeplessness. Today, we examine anxiolytics (pronounced ang-zee-oh-li-tiks), sometimes referred to as tranquilizers – medications used to alleviate anxiety and calm the nerves. The main family of anxiolytics is made up of the benzodiazepines – commonly referred to as " benzos."