The best way to treat bipolar disorder at this time is through medication and therapy. The key is knowing which bipolar medications will work for you. To go through every bipolar medication on the market would be pointless and, obviously, not all of them would be right for you, anyway. However, we can discuss the types of medications. The three basic types of medications used for bipolar disorder are mood stabilizers, antidepressants, and antipsychotics. Your bipolar medications will probably fall into one of these three categories. Your doctor will most likely prescribe your medication from one of the above categories. After that, it's usually just a matter of trial and error. Your doctor will then begin trying different medications and different dosages. You may experience side effects from some of the medications, but most of these are normal and are easily managed. You should report all side effects that concern you to your doctor, however. Still, the question remains: What is the key to knowing which bipolar medications will work for you? TIME. Only time can tell whether a medication will work for you. Your doctor should only be changing one medication at a time, to see how you do on that medication. That way, over TIME, you can see if your bipolar symptoms improve or not. If your symptoms do improve, you will know that you are on the right bipolar medication for you. If you have more symptoms, or if you need to be on more than one medication, then the process can be repeated