Aripiprazole Joins the Family of Second-Generation Mood Stabilizers

Letter to the Editor

Sir: In my recent letter to the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, I proposed a modified definition of the mood stabilizer as "a drug that if used as monotherapy (1)acts therapeutically in mania or/and in depression, (2) acts prophylactically against manic or/and depressive episodes as demonstrated in a trial of at least 1 year’s duration, and (3) does not worsen any therapeutic or prophylactic aspect of the illness outlined above." On the basis of a recent trial by Keck et al. published in this journal, it is evident that aripiprazole meets these criteria.

The introduction of individual mood stabilizers occurred more than 4 decades ago.