Mood Disorder Bipolar Medications: Lithium, Anticonvulsants and Atypical AntipsychoticsManic depression has undergone a name change and a proliferation of new pharmaceutical treatment options since Lithium.Manic episodes may be extreme and include psychotic behavior or may manifest with less severe symptoms of fast or pressured speech, racing thoughts and self-destructive, risky behaviors such as overspending and sexual promiscuity. When the pendulum swings the other way, episodes of bipolar depression can rob sufferers of their enjoyment of life and present the danger of suicidal behavior (APA 2000).I had a boss for about 8 years who had suffered from bipolar disorder very badly and was still on Lithium. We set up a solicitor's practice with him, myself and my husband. He was the only person qualified to run a practice, though my husband is now fully qualified. We really ran the practice from day one and I lived in fear of the law society or the legal aid board finding out that the boss was not fulfilling his supervisory role properly. He turned against me at an early stage and after some initial unpleasant episodes where he seemed to be undermining me to keep me in a subservient admin position he rarely talked to me. He seemed to be having crisis after crisis and was constantly telling other people about all his problems, mainly concerning seemingly non-existant relationships with women, and talking about his illness. He never shared any of this with either me or my husband and I began to lose my confidence in myself, because he criticised me in front of people and refused to confide in me. He was also obstructive about billing cases and made out I was a nagging bore when all I wanted to do was make money so that we could be paid a decent amount for all the commitment we were putting in.
