Valproate continues to be overvalued in the treatment of acute mania—and it doesn’t work as well as many assume.
Part of the problem? A single overhyped study, cleverly marketed by the pharmaceutical company, has shaped decades of prescribing habits and continues to be taught to psychiatry residents as gold-standard evidence.
But the data tells a different story.
The BALANCE study (British study of Lithium +/− Valproate) showed no significant long-term benefit to adding valproate to lithium over a 2-year period in bipolar disorder.
It’s time we stop relying on outdated assumptions and start practicing based on robust, long-term outcomes—not industry narratives.
📚 Evidence over tradition.
🧠 Teach residents the full picture.
💊 Prescribe with precision.
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