Bipolar disorder is a common and often chronic and debilitating mental illness. The
depressive phase of bipolar disorder contributes the largest portion of the disorder, and
treatment resistant bipolar depression represents a significant public health problem. Recent
research has suggested that bipolar depression is associated with elevated brain glutamate
activity. We hypothesize that riluzole, a drug approved for ALS which inhibits glutamate
activity, will lead to clinical improvement in patients with bipolar depression.