I was reading an article regarding the STEP-BD program’s research with bipolar depression. An interesting fact shared is the limited number of Food and Drug Administration approvals for medications to treat bipolar disorder.

FDA Approved Drugs for Mania
Aripiprazole Carbamazepine Chlorpromazine	Divalproex Lithium Olanzapine	Quetiapine Risperidone Ziprasidone
FDA Approved Drugs for Bipolar Depression
Olanzapine-Fluoxetine Combination Quetiapine

This means that the majority of medications prescribed for bipolar disorder are done so off-label. Off-label is defined as “a drug prescribed for a particular indication even though the drug has not yet received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for that disease, condition, or symptom” (definition from Dictionary.com). And this brings us to the thrust of this research article – a great deal more research is needed.

However, this is changing. “After decades of languishing with minimal research and few treatment options, the investment of the federal government in projects like STEP-BD and large psychopharmacology companies’ interest in developing new treatments for bipolar disorder that has occurred in the last decade suggest that the future for the treatment of bipolar disorder will be steadily becoming brighter.” Approaching the Challenge of Bipolar Depression: Results from STEP-BD by Dr. Stephen M. Strakowski.