What are mood regulating drugs?

At present, the core of clinically approved prescription drugs for mood regulation are mood stabilizers. Atypical antipsychotics, some antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs will also be included in the combination medication plan for mood regulation according to the patient's individual condition. All such drugs are prescription drugs and must not be purchased and taken by oneself.

I have met too many patients in the outpatient clinic who asked "Is there any magic medicine that can stop me from emo's?". Last month, there was a girl who worked in Internet operations. Her mood was up and down for three months in a row. Last week, she impulsively resigned because of a comment from her boss. This week, she was lying at home crying and felt that she could not find a job. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type Ⅱ. She was given the first treatment. She was prescribed the classic mood stabilizer lithium carbonate. This medicine has been used for almost seventy years and has a very stable effect. It is like putting a balance weight on the ever-changing emotional seesaw. It will not make her suddenly excited to act impulsively, nor will it make her trapped in depression. The only thing to pay attention to is to check the blood lithium concentration regularly to avoid excessive side effects.

When many people see prescriptions for drugs with the word "antipsychotic" such as quetiapine and olanzapine, their first reaction is "I'm not mentally ill, why are you prescribing this for me?" In fact, this is also a common misunderstanding among the public. Nowadays, it is very common to use atypical antipsychotics in small doses to regulate mood. For patients with mood disorders who are prone to irritability, impulsivity, or have sleep problems, the mature program is more effective than using stabilizers alone. It is equivalent to slightly cooling down the overly excited and restless nerves. As long as it is used in the dosage guided by the doctor, there is no need to feel any unnecessary shame.

As for whether antidepressants are mood-regulating drugs, there is no unified conclusion in the academic community. If you are a patient with simple unipolar depression, SSRI antidepressants can indeed effectively improve your low mood. However, if you are a patient with bipolar disorder, using antidepressants alone is very likely to induce a manic phase, which will make the condition more complicated. I have said before I met a college student who bought fluoxetine after reading the sharing on the Internet without doing an evaluation. Within three weeks of taking it, he started not sleeping for three days in a row and spent money and gifts on his friends. When he came to see a doctor, he discovered that he had bipolar disorder. His previous depressive episode had masked his history of mania, and his random use of medicines actually induced an acute manic episode.

Many patients also ask whether they can use Chinese patent medicines to regulate their emotions. Currently, some Chinese patent medicines that soothe the liver and relieve depression have certain auxiliary effects on mild anxiety and depression. However, the evidence based on evidence-based medicine is not sufficient. They are more used as a supplement to regular medication and cannot replace prescription mood-regulating drugs. If emotional problems have affected normal eating, sleeping, and working, you still need to seek evaluation from a psychiatrist first.

By the way, don't take mood-regulating drugs as "happy water". Last week, a student who was preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination came and said that he could not sit still during the review recently and was easily irritable, so he wanted to prescribe some drugs to "improve efficiency". It was evaluated that he was just having a normal stress reaction and could not meet the indications for medication. Taking medication casually may cause side effects of drowsiness and nausea, which will affect the preparation for the exam. Occasional mood swings are normal. If it is really to the extent that medication is needed, you must follow the doctor's advice and don't mess around on your own.