This document discusses psychopharmacology and mood stabilizers, focusing on lithium. It describes how psychopharmacology studies drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders, which work by adjusting neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Mood stabilizers are medications that can decrease vulnerability to episodes of mania or depression without exacerbating current episodes. Commonly used mood stabilizers include lithium, carbamazepine, and sodium valproate. Lithium has been used since the late 1800s to treat bipolar disorder and works by decreasing abnormal brain activity, though its exact mechanism is unknown. Lithium requires monitoring due to its narrow therapeutic index and risk of toxicity.