What is the difference between a mood stabilizer and an anti-depressant?

Answer 1

Antidepressant is supposed to keep you from being depressed. Mood stabilizer is supposed to keep your mood stable, therefore, not depressed and not manic.

P.S. Tapestry6, Wellbutrin is classified as an antidepressant.

Answer 2

As far as the neurochemistry is concerned, each works on a different neurotransmitter. Most antidepressants are associated with serotonin mainly but can also work with norepinephrine and dopamine. Mood stabilizers, in contrast, are most often anti-convulsants like Lamictal, Depakote, Tegretol, etc. The main receptor they bind to is the dopamine receptor. Lithium isn't an anticonvulstant but it also a mood stabilizers. Others that have been used to stabilize mood are known as the anti-psychotic (neuroleptic) drugs. These are also known as the major tranquilizers. The class of drugs known for this are called the Benzodiazepines and these can be dangerous when taken with other drugs because they irreversibly bind to the receptors. Meaning in English: Easy to OD on! Examples are Xanax, Thorazine, Clozaril, Zyprexa, Respirdol, etc.

Mood stabilizers have that tendency to mellow you out/relax the body by depressing the nervous system.
Anti-depressants enhance mood - make you feel better than when you were feeling depressed.

Hope this helps. Sorry if it sounded too technical. Trying to be thorough.

Answer 3

It happens a lot that people with disorders like bi-polar disorder only report the depressed days, not the manic. If they are given an anti-depressant, rather than a mood stabilizer, they aren't being treated for the entire disorder, only for the depressed episodes.

Most people, if on medication for mood disorders of any kind, should be under the care of a doctor. Various circumstances and other factors can cause slight changes, and medication should be adjusted accordingly. If you are working closely with your doctor and being a responsible patient by being completely honest and asking questions and taking your medication and following other advise as directed, neither mood stabilizers nor anti-depressants cause you to be dangerous, zoned out, sedated, etc.

Answer 4

A mood stabilizer is supposed to take the top off the high and the bottom off the lows. It's also supposed to make the switches less frequent and less violent. An anti-depressant is supposed to just make the lows go away as much as it can.

Answer 5

Think about your minimum and maximum or highest and lowest moods. An anti-depressent just lifts your mood upwards, making you less depressed and more cheerful. A mood stabiliser stops you getting too high and too low, just somewhere in between.

Cognitive therapy is good for depression too, looking at any faulty chains of reasoning that you might have and replacing unrealisticly gloomy thoughts with more realistic neutral or positive thoughts. See link. You may not be able to afford a therapist, but you can read books (from Amazon etc) and articles on the net about it.

Answer 6

A mood stabilizer like Wellbutrin just takes the edge off your panic or anger, you are yourself otherwise.
An anti depressant is scarey stuff you are not yourself in fact you can change a lot and really has to be supervised by doctors.

Answer 7

A mood stabelizer is supposed to buffer your moods, wether it be anger, jeleously, exuberance, depression, etc. They can also prevent people from switching moods eratically ( crying one minute then happy the next for example ).
Anti depressants just treat depression.

Answer 8

Antidedepressnt is to lift depression. Mood stabiliser prevent return of depression or mood elevation (in manic depression)