I know this article is old but I take Depakote ER and they changed it to generic and I had manic outburst. I was told by a doctor and I'm surprised nobody has said this but the truth is that generic Depakote ER 500 mg for instance is 485-500 mg and the name brand is closer to 500-515 or 520. With that much variance, then it's no wonder there is more and more cases where people can't take the generic version.