There are various types of bipolar disorder, and the treatment of the condition has to depend on the type of bipolar disorder that you are suffering from.
For instance, if you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD, you may use such standard antidepressant medications as Prozac, which is actually fluoxetine, and Zoloft, which is sertraline.
Even though doctors recommend exercise and stress management to treat seasonal affective disorder, they also advice that you allow yourself to experience as much outdoor sunlight as possible, and that you take light therapy treatment in addition to the rest of the medications you are taking for the bipolar-disorder condition.
You cannot be too carefree about your bipolar-disorder medications because the wrong type will really hurt you more than it would help.
It is dangerous to use the medications for depression and mania at the same time because it could actually result in outright madness.
The latest addition to the treatment of bipolar type of disorder is the medication Risperdal that was only approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the year 2006.
The first of its kind, it is great for treating irritability, which you may experience when you are in the manic phase of your bipolar disorder.
Otherwise, you may want to try a mood stabilizer like lithium, and a number of other lithium salts that can keep your mania or your depression at bay.
Lithium is good because it is a medication that can help you such that you may never even experience the episodes as long as you are on the pills.