Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

The Tail Suspension Test
Published on: January 28, 2012
[Pharmacological suicide prevention under special consideration of lithium salts]
1Brain Center Berlin. bmoe@zedat.fu-berlin.de
Objective:
This minireview summarizes the existing evidence from large, international observational studies and RCTs on the suicide preventive effects of lithium as compared to other mood stabilizers and antidepressants.
Methods:
Unsystematic literature review.
Results:
There is increasing and robust evidence from a relatively large number of studies and metaanalyses that lithium long-term treatment reduces the suicide risk and overall mortality in patients with all kinds of depressive disorders (unipolar, bipolar, schizoaffective). Comparable evidence does not exist with regard to other mood stabilizers including atypical neuroleptics, or antidepressants.
Conclusions:
The existing evidence on the suicide preventive effect of lithium should be integrated in therapeutic guidelines and routine psychiatric care.
Related Concept Videos
Mania and Antimanic Drugs: Overview
Psychosis: Goals of Pharmacotherapy
Antidepressant Drugs: MAOIs and Other Agents
Pharmaceutical Poisoning: Potential Scenarios
Drug Therapy
Antianxiety Medications
Nonlinear Pharmacokinetics: Dependence of Elimination Half-Life and Dose Clearance
A study on guinea pigs examined the...