Citation

Lewitzka U, Severus E, Bauer R, Ritter P, Muller-Oerlinghausen B, Bauer M. Int. J. Bipolar Disord. 2015; 3(1): 32.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany, ute.lewitzka@uniklinikum-dresden.de.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1186/s40345-015-0032-2

PMID

26183461

PMCID

PMC4504869

Abstract

The management and treatment of patients with suicidal behavior is one of the most challenging tasks for health-care professionals. Patients with affective disorders are at high risk for suicidal behavior, therefore, should be a target for prevention. Numerous international studies of lithium use have documented anti-suicidal effects since the 1970s. Despite the unambiguous evidence of lithium's anti-suicidal effects and recommendations in national and international guidelines for its use in acute and maintenance therapy of affective disorders, the use of lithium is still underrepresented. The following article provides a comprehensive review of studies investigating the anti-suicidal effect of lithium in patients with affective disorders.

Language: en