Diagnosed with bipolar... taking lithium and will be starting risperdal soon... would like to add an anti-depressent to it that would both elevate my mood and open up my personality...

The depressive symptoms I have I guess are pretty typical for men...
- closed off emotionally
- listness, fatigued
- not sleeping well
- mentally slow
- cut off from relationships

In addition to improving mood, the personality aspect is pretty important to me... will elevating move improve it on its own? not sure how all that works...

Are you bipolar I or II? Antidepressants aren't usually prescribed for bipolar II's. They can be, but not usually.

Have you tried Lamictal?

I honestly don't think that an antidepressant is going to change personality traits. Most personality traits are deeply ingrained and require therapy to change.

well opening up your personality like C~F said, won't change with any medication. Anti-depressants can help with low mood but do carry the risk of mania or hypomania.

I took Risperdal and it helped me keep a stable mood. But 6 weeks into the medication I got tics so I had to stop it.

If you read my posts from co-existing conditions you can read about the other similar medications I've taken too.

In terms on Anti-depressants, I've taken only 3. Zoloft, Cymbalta, and Pexeva.

Zoloft made my mood instability worse so I wouldn't suggest that since your working right now to stablize mood.

Cymbalta left me very confused and made me daydream all the time. I was taking 30mg.

Pexeva has helped me bunches. I don't get the same side effects except for insomnia right now, which I'm working with the doctor to fix.

Pexeva & it's similar drug Paxil, I've read online are the most selective of the SSRIs so it may be the best bet to help not trigger mania.

There's also another anti-depressant that's used in bipolar depression but I've never taken it. It's called Symbyax. Symbyax is a combination of Prozac and Zyprexa. There are various doses and are read as Zyprexa mg / Prozac mg.

For example if you get a script for 6/25, that means 6mg Zyprexa / 25mg Prozac.

The doses are 6/25, 12/25, 6/50, 12/50.

Best of luck with finding something and I hope my information is helpful.
Andy...