Question

Lithium is the drug of choice in the management of

• A. Bipolar disorder
• B. Obsessive-Compulsive disorder
• C. Anxiety neurosis
• D. Schizophrenia

Hint:

Think of the mood-swing disorder where blood levels of the drug must be monitored.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks which psychiatric condition lithium is used to treat as the first-line, mood-stabilising agent.

Step 2: Key Concept or Approach:
Lithium is a mood stabiliser. It flattens the swings between mania and depression and is used both to treat an acute manic episode and to prevent relapse over the long term. Its narrow therapeutic index means blood levels need monitoring, but that does not change its role as the benchmark drug for mood-swing disorders.

Step 3: Working Through the Options:
Bipolar disorder is the classic indication for lithium, both acutely for mania and for long-term prophylaxis against further manic and depressive episodes. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is treated with SSRIs or clomipramine, not lithium. Anxiety neurosis responds to benzodiazepines or SSRIs, not a mood stabiliser. Schizophrenia needs antipsychotics such as risperidone or haloperidol; lithium has no primary role there, though it is occasionally added as an augmenting agent in resistant cases, never as first-line therapy.

Step 4: Conclusion:
The correct answer is Bipolar disorder.