Noting a “striking incongruity between the wide use of and the weak evidence base for the efficacy and safety of antidepressant drugs in bipolar,” a large international task force, publishing in the American Journal of Psychiatry, concluded that “because of limited data, the task force could not make broad statements endorsing antidepressant use but acknowledged that individual bipolar patients may benefit from antidepressants.”
Pacchiarotti, I., Bond, D., Baldessarini, R., Nolen, W., et al.; The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) Task Force Report on Antidepressant Use in Bipolar Disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry. September 13, 2013