--- title: "Psych News Alert: Deep Brain Stimulation May Benefit Bipolar Patients" description: Individuals with bipolar disorder who do not respond to medications for their depressive episodes might be able to find relief from those ep... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/MRI%20Brain%20scan_59370466-Jun-24-2025-06-06-09-7679-PM.jpg --- 1/9/12 12:00 AM # Deep Brain Stimulation May Benefit Bipolar Patients ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/01/deep-brain-stimulation-may-benefit.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/01/deep-brain-stimulation-may-benefit.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/01/deep-brain-stimulation-may-benefit.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/01/deep-brain-stimulation-may-benefit.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/01/deep-brain-stimulation-may-benefit.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/MRI%20Brain%20scan_59370466-Jun-24-2025-06-06-12-7608-PM.jpg?width=200&height=150&name=MRI%20Brain%20scan_59370466-Jun-24-2025-06-06-12-7608-PM.jpg)](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/MRI%20Brain%20scan_59370466-Jun-24-2025-06-06-11-5972-PM.jpg) Individuals with bipolar disorder who do not respond to medications for their depressive episodes might be able to find relief from those episodes via deep brain stimulation, a small pilot study published January 2 in the *Archives of General Psychiatry *suggests. Seven subjects received single-blind sham stimulation of subcallosal cingulate white matter for four weeks followed by active stimulation for 24 weeks. The subjects experienced a significant decrease in depression and an increase in functioning. At the same time, the treatment was found to be safe and well-tolerated, and none of the subjects experienced hypomanic or manic episodes. More information about treatment advances for bipolar disorder can be found in two American Psychiatric Publishing books— [*Advances in Treatment of Bipolar Disorder*](http://www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=62230) * *and *[Handbook of Diagnosis and Treatment of Bipolar Disorders](http://www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemID=62313) .* (Image: xpixel/Shutterstock.com) [bipolar disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/bipolar-disorder) ## Related posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/hands_computer_iStock-879813798-Jun-24-2025-05-05-56-2385-PM.jpg?height=200&name=hands_computer_iStock-879813798-Jun-24-2025-05-05-56-2385-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/09/online-resources-could-help-bridge.html) [first-episode psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/first-episode-psychosis), [Psychiatric Services in Advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatric-services-in-advance), [Internet](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/internet), [social media](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/social-media), [digital mental health](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/digital-mental-health), [Michael L. Birnbaum](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/michael-l-birnbaum) ## [Online Resources Could Help Bridge the Pathway to Care for Patients With First-Episode Psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/09/online-resources-could-help-bridge.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 9/27/18 12:00 AM Social media and the internet could play an important role in reaching young people who are... [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/09/online-resources-could-help-bridge.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/telomereF-Jun-24-2025-07-23-08-8788-PM.gif?height=200&name=telomereF-Jun-24-2025-07-23-08-8788-PM.gif) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/10/short-telomeres-plus-depression.html) [depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [cancer](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/cancer) ## [Short Telomeres Plus Depression Increase Mortality Risk From Bladder Cancer](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/10/short-telomeres-plus-depression.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 10/24/12 12:00 AM Meng Chen, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in... [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/10/short-telomeres-plus-depression.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/emergency_iStock-1133586898-4.jpg?height=200&name=emergency_iStock-1133586898-4.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/07/in-canada-black-patients-more-likely-to.html) [racism](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/racism), [first-episode psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/first-episode-psychosis), [white](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/white), [Psychiatric Services in Advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatric-services-in-advance), [black](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/black), [Canada](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/canada) ## [In Canada, Black Patients More Likely to Receive Coercive Treatment, Study Finds](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/07/in-canada-black-patients-more-likely-to.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 7/15/21 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/07/in-canada-black-patients-more-likely-to.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T18:13:09.477Z", "datePublished" : "2012-01-09T05:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Deep Brain Stimulation May Benefit Bipolar Patients", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/MRI%20Brain%20scan_59370466-Jun-24-2025-06-06-09-7679-PM.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/01/deep-brain-stimulation-may-benefit.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```