It is definitely aimed at patients with bipolar disorder. Or, perhaps more accurately, at trying to convince people that they have bipolar disorder and need Abilify. It's a woman in her 40s or so walking on a path in a dark forest. It's windy and the weather seems menacing, with thunder and darkness. There's a voice-over talking about bipolar mania and how troubling it is.

All of a sudden the woman exits the forest, the sun is shining, and the woman finds a companion on her path! Another woman walks beside her and leads our heroine into the light. Abilify has come to the rescue. The voice-over talks about the benefits of Abilify and how it helps with bipolar mania and can make your life great again. Of course, the voice mentions those pesky side effects, like ... say... death! But the idea is that there is no need to feel bad.... ever. Take Abilify and see the light!

Vomit!

I don't know if this is the right place to put this but I just learned from an ad at nytimes.com that this is Restless Leg Awareness week, from the ad: "Mirapex may cause you to fall asleep with no warning even while doing normal daily activities such as driving." Hmmmm. At least you won't have restless legs.

I don't remember what network, but I saw the Abilify ad on TV as an ad for the website "BipolarOptions.com". Of course, when you get there, it's just a package of promotions pushing you to Abilify, without giving you any info even about what class of meds it is.

My husband is B.P. We have ups and downs. But to say that Abilify will lead you out of the depression that bi-polar causes is worth all the side effects is just plain wrong. If you are so out of it that you even think about taking such a dangerous drug just to function it's time to think about commiting yourself to help you get sorted out is not the worst thing . to me Abilify is wrong. Bi-Polar patients are not wild animals that we have to give that kind of drug.

I have also seen the Abilify ads on tv-and, frankly, I was horrified! My education is in clinical psychology, but also manage a very rapidly cycling Bipolar Type 1. I was prescribed Abilify and by the second dose experienced such facial extremity swelling that I called my psychiatrist and informed him I was on the way to the ER and what I was 99% causing the problem. Anyway, back to this most recent ad------I think it is targeted for persons, especially women, who feel scared and alone. This ad and so many like it
are steering the uninformed to the conclusion...that whatever is happening in my life that is problematic can be remedied a f/n pill. I know from clinical practice and personal life experience that medications in the right combinations at the correct dosage amounts can be very beneficial in managing the extreme poles of BPD. But then to be sucessful a patient has to manage the side-effect of medications,or choose not to take a med because for that person the negative side-effects exceeded any progress---or most likely be prescribed additional med to manage the ill effects of the preceeding med and so on growing exponentially. What bothers me the most with the Abilify ads is that if there is something you don't like or are uncomfortable that there is a pill that it make everything "all better." The U.S. spends billions of dollars on the war against drug, but allows pharmaceutical companies to hone in and offer a quick "fix" I am old enough to remember when liquor was not allowed to be advertised on tv. Now at the end of an alcohol ad there is a disclaimer to consume responsibly. It should be mandated that drug companies include a disclaimer such as "this is only a 30 sec ad for a med describing symptoms as generically as possible so to appeal to as many viewers as possible. Please consume responsibly."

The Abilify ads differ from others in that they show loneliness of young women (walking either in the forest, or on the grass but not on the path). They remind me of Andrew Wyeth's painting called "Christine's World" depicting a young crippled girl semi-lying on the grass watching her far-away house.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina's_World

For those of us less swayed by Abilify's ads, there's a good and short pocket book written for doctors about psychiatric drugs. I consult it on a regular basis. Here's the link:

http://mihd.net/cn0r4a

(Click on your left to request the download link and after the screen refreshes, click on "download".) The book is in .pdf and is about 100 pages long.

I actually take Abilify, and although the commercial is horrible, the medication has helped me have less frequent manias. I highly recommend it, and the side effects are minimal. The only long term is water retention, so for all of you who like me were sick of lithium, try Abilify, it works for me.