I think the trick is to make sure the dosage is correct to achieve a balance for

             moods.  i know alot of people around here have had better luck with

    Epival , long term, which is an anti seizure med.  ,  more so than the lithium,

       but it depends on the person.   Speaking from my experience ,  even if you

   are fairly balanced on mood stabelizers, you can still slide down ( depression)

          and the trick is the icing on the cake for that, which is a small dosage

      of anti depressant,   too much of it can cause manic , so i take mine once

       every 4 days.  i think thats the med that prevents the suicidal tendencies,

          not the mood stabelizers alone.  

I have seizures and I take Topomax

At a much higher dosage, I was suicidal on it.

It left me with absolutely no feelings, no responses, no emotions except this continuing long feeling of wanting to die.

When the neuro dropped the dosage (due to other unpleasant adverse effects), that dissipated Thankfully!

It also doubles as a mood stabilizer for me, in that my pdoc wanted me to try it as well. 

Many many many many many of the newer so called "mood stabilizers" are only the old time anti-epileptics (Depakote, Tegretol, etc..) and it seems that the anti-epileptics are also being used for Migraines and Fibromylagia treatment as well as Neuropathy as well.  Who would of thought that drugs to treat a neurological dysfunction such as seizures... would also treat so many other maladies?