I am usually very reluctant to bad mouth medications, because I know they affect different people differently. I will say that Depakote ER was not at all a friendly medication for me. I took it in conjunction with Invega (paliperidone). The mix definitely ended what was a multi-year bout of severe manias, most mixed with psychosis. However, on that combo I also experienced my longest and severest pure depression. I reached my highest weight ever (eating Reese's peanut butter cups daily, even though my sense of taste was actually lessened). I was so depressed that I agreed to ECT. I became pre-diabetic, and had high cholesterol and high triglycerides. I was on the verge of metabolic syndrome. I also suspected I was beginning to develop polycystic ovarian syndrome (POS), a syndrome that some women can get when on medications, especially Depakote. That syndrome's symptoms can be quite distressing. I also had terrible physical results from Invega (hyperprolactinemia and a pituitary microadenoma that if bigger, would have required a type of brain surgery). They were the medication combo from hell, for me. I often call Depakote "Depressakote". If I had to submit two medications for a "most hated medications ever" list, I would submit Depakote and Invega. That's pretty bad considering all of the side effects I got from Lithium, including kidney damage and hypothyroidism. Lithium would be my third worst.

If Depakote clearly seems to make you depressed, do talk to your psychiatrist about it. There are other moodstabilizers that could be better options. For me, Tegretol XR is a million times more pleasant. So is Lamictal. I do realize that many people benefit greatly from Depakote and Invega,, and also Lithium, and even have few side effects.