mood stabilizer

n. Drug which reduces the mania or hypomania in bipolar disorders and the sadness in both bipolar and depressive disorders. Lithium carbonate is the most commonly used mood stabilizer for bipolar disorders but is dangerous to use as its therapeutic dose is close to its lethal dose, and so close monitoring is necessary. The anticonvulsant drugs carbamazepine, valproic acid, and oxcarbazine are often used with bipolar II disorder and cyclothymic disorder. Anxiolytics are most commonly used as depressive mood stabilizers. Also called antimanics or antidepressives.