One of the first drugs ever used to treat bipolar disease was the drug chlorpromazine. Developed over a half century ago in Paris, France, it was a tranquilizer used primarily to calm down patients who were going through the mania phase of the disease. For many years, this continued to be the primary medication prescribed for those with bipolar disorder. In fact, according to participants in many bipolar support groups, many psychiatrist continue to use it today to treat various manic symptoms of their patients.
But not long after the discovery of chlorpromazine, a new drug was discovered to help overcome depression. And, it held the promise of being even more effective against bipolar disorder. That new drug was Lithium.
Lithium was first used to treat bipolar disease in 1949. And, even today, decades after its discovery, it still remains the best all around drug for treating bipolar. It is true that there are some drugs that are better at controlling the depressive phase of bipolar disorder. And, others, may be more effective at controlling the mania phase. But, if your are looking for an all-in-one drug to treat both symptoms, researchers have still not found anything better than lithium.
And even though some drugs may be better at controlling better aspects of the disease, these medications often come with the possibility of many more negative side effects than does lithium. So why are these new drugs promoted so heavily?
Simple. Lithium has no patent protection. Hence, the drug companies have not incentive to market them. What they do have an incentive to market are the new drugs being produced in their laboratories to which they have patent protection for. And while this may not benefit you as a consumer or patient, it does very well as far as putting money into their pockets.
It just goes to show that new is not always better. And sometimes new is not even as good.