Archive 1995–2023

Bipolar disorder is a chronic condition that requires a long-term treatment with mood stabilising drugs. Pharmacological therapy is always fraught with the risk of side effects of drugs, and the occurrence of side effects translates into worse functioning of the patient, regardless of the existing conditions resulting from the disease. Among the possible side effects caused by medication, specifically of note is the cognitive impairment affecting driving skills, ability to operate machinery or work at heights. Practising psychiatrists often face doubts on the first problem, i.e. driving vehicles by patients on prescription drugs treatment. Many such patients have a driver's license and, regardless of pharmacotherapy, they want to drive a car for a variety of reasons. This situation forces the psychiatrist to consider their driving safety in the light of potential side effects of the prescribed drugs. This problem emerges regularly and despite several conducted studies, it has not been fully resolved. In most of the characteristics of medical products, there are no clear guidelines for drivers in the pharmacotherapy. Usually, this decision is left to the doctor, who unfortunately does not have conclusive evidence to make an informed decision. Guidelines developed by international organisations (ICADTS, DRUID) may be of some help, yet they are not based on a sufficiently scientific basis. This report presents results of studies, current medical recommendations and law regulations related to safety while driving under the use of mood stabilisers.