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In a recent influential paper from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) study, researchers demonstrated that adding antidepressants to mood stabilizers did not improve depression in patients with bipolar disorder (Journal Watch Psychiatry Mar 28 2007). In this STEP-BD subanalysis, researchers examined data on 335 bipolar I or II patients who were followed naturalistically and who at study entry were in a depressive episode, were receiving mood stabilizers or atypical antipsychotics, and had two or more manic symptoms.
Researchers compared disease course among 145 patients who were already receiving or were newly started on adjunctive antidepressants at study entry and among 190 patients who were not rec…