Bipolar disorder is a complex, often debilitating and potentially life threatening illness in which the patient goes from episodes of depression to episodes of mania or hypomania, most often with periods of relative euthymia in between these episodes.  The most common way to conceptualize the treatment of bipolar disorder is by phase. The ideal goal would be preventing the distinct manic and depressive episodes. This is done mostly with medications although psychotherapy, lifestyle modifications and even neuromodulation potentially have a role.  A particularly difficult aspect of bipolar disorder is treating the acute phase of bipolar depression. Each is treated mostly with psychotropic medication. In this Episode, Dr. DePietro will focus on treating acute bipolar depression.Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to feedback@psydactic.com.References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com. All opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively those of the person speaking and should not be confused with the opinions of anyone else. We reserve the right to be wrong. Nothing in this podcast should be treated as individual medical advice.