Bipolar disorder: assessment and management (NICE guideline CG185)

CG185 keeps lithium as the first-line long-term treatment for bipolar disorder — a position it has held through the 2025 update — with valproate avoided in women of childbearing potential and antidepressant monotherapy discouraged. Alongside the pharmacology it recommends a structured psychological intervention designed for bipolar disorder for people in remission or with mild depressive symptoms. The register trials below cover that psychosocial arm: family-focused therapy, CBT as an adjunct, and intensive psychotherapy for bipolar depression.

This guideline cites 4 of the 62 landmark trials in our Psychiatry & psychotherapy register.

Source

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Bipolar disorder: assessment and management. NICE guideline [CG185]. Published 24 September 2014; last updated 2 September 2025.