Psychiatrikē = Psychiatriki
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The treatment of bipolar disorder is a current challenge for clinicians and despite progress in psychopharmacology, options remain limited and results are often unsatisfactory. Current research focuses on finding new pharmaceutical agents for all phases of bipolar disorder, i.e. mania, bipolar depression and maintenance. Particularly, relapse prevention and longterm stabilization is a major therapeutic target. ⋯ Improving methodology aspects of clinical trials, such as diagnosis, clinical heterogeneity, monitoring time, gender differences and comorbidities, may promote research. Current studies seem promising for the development of novel pharmacological agents in the near future, although there are methodological limitations in the search for the maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder. New therapeutic targets include not only the already known mechanisms of action, but also novel pathophysiological pathways, probably implicated in bipolar disorder.