Neuroscience | Mental Health
Antidepressant-Induced Mania Linked to Increased Mitochondrial Activity
Categorization of antidepressants based on mitochondrial energetics has clinical value.
When I was diagnosed with bipolar I disorder, I was in the midst of a severe manic episode with psychotic features. I was rail-thin and exercising fanatically-even in the middle of the night at a 24-hour gym. I slept as little as 15 minutes a night, and when I did sleep, I would wake up with my clothes and bed drenched in sweat. I experienced delusions of grandeur and hyper-religiosity, as well as heightened senses and creativity, among other classic symptoms of mania.
In retrospect, I had experienced manic and hypomanic episodes before-I just didn’t realize it at the time. For almost 20 years, my bipolar disorder had been misdiagnosed and I had been treated for major depressive disorder and anxiety, for which I had tried a variety of different combinations of medicines. When that severe manic episode took hold, I had been taking the antidepressants Wellbutrin (bupropion) and Pristiq (desvenlafaxine). For individuals with bipolar disorder, those drugs are each known to induce mania on their own-and I took them together. Add in stressors such as an ugly divorce, estrangement from my…
