Lithium: Mineral And Drug Pure lithium, like sodium, calcium, or potassium, is a naturally occurring mineral. Lithium is found abundantly in certain rocks and the sea and in minute amounts in plant and animal tissues. Lithium also shows up in water, notably in the springs and spas where in earlier times people took the waters, bathing in and drinking the lithium-rich water for its soothing effects. Whether lithium actually calmed 19th-century ladies and gentlemen has never been documented. What we do know is that, from time to time since antiquity, doctors have noticed that lithium can control overexcitement in some of their patients. As noted, lithium's greatest value is in preventing or reducing the occurrence of future episodes of bipolar disorder. The effectiveness of this lithium prophylaxis or lithium prophylactic treatment has been demonstrated in more than two decades of careful research. In related research, several major studies indicate that lithium can decrease the frequency or severity of new depressive episodes in recurrent unipolar disorder. This suggests that lithium may also have prophylactic value in treating this mood disorder. Conventional antidepressants also have been shown to be effective prophylactic treatments for recurrent unipolar depression.
