Ah Depakote. Depakote is a medication that has been used for quite a while. You are have part of the story on it... The whole story is the effectiveness of Depakote for long-term use with manic patients more than 3 weeks, has not been demonstrated in controlled clinical trials. That is why the drug has to be continually reevaluated for the long-term use in a case-by-basis. Doctors will also order lab tests for the patient's blood to be checked generally four times a year to see if the patients blood has appropriate levels of the drug and to see if the patients liver is healthy.

I can only give you sacerdotal information on the drug's effectiveness. However, I can say with confidence, in my personal educated opinion, that I have seen it work very effectively in the cases I have knowledge of.