Turning batteries into medicine

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Lithium carbonate is a very useful medication used to treat bipolar disorder. In this video, I will be making lithium carbonate, first from lithium hydroxide and then from a battery.

Keep in mind that lithium salts affect the nervous system and working with lithium metal can be dangerous. This video is for educational purposes only and should not be repeated!

Also, adding lithium metal to water is dangerous. It can lead to a serious fire. Again, please do not repeat this.

References:

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[NileRed]

This video is for educational purposes only. Please don't recreate what you see. Lithium salts are toxic and affect the nervous system. If you suspect that you might have bipolar disorder, please speak to your doctor. Do not under any circumstances try to self medicate. That would almost guaranteed make any issues significantly worse.

[thelegalsystem]

Making my own lithium carbonate sounds like exactly the kind of thing I would try to do when manic

[gafeht]

I don't have time for this; I'm eating a pack of batteries and crossing my fingers

[JoeyJoeySmith]

Lol, the fact that he made a bipolar medication with batteries. What a natural pun.

[Tinlion]

Fun fact: when 7-Up was first brewed and sold (as a patent medicine called Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Carbonated Soda), some of the people who drank it regularly reported feeling a little calmer. As it turns out, this is because it contained lithium citrate, an actual mood stabilizer drug. The drink actually played a small part in the discovery and development of lithium in pharmaceuticals!

[dytractiate]

Next Video: Making Methamphetamine from a tissue.

[Zilkenian_Davenport]

When I started learning about programming, I had a classmate with bipolar disorder. He was the one who explained variables to me in a way I could understand (I have ADHD, so sometimes it takes me longer to understand abstract things). He quickly picked up I was unable to understand these types of things as fast as the rest, so he made an example using boxes (the variables) and putting something in it (the values). My mind finally understood what he meant, and from that point forward he helped me understand things in programming. Sadly, he didn't finish the programming course, and he was gone by the second year because of his own disorder. Thank you so much for bringing awareness to bipolar disorder.

[florisPH]

The process of going from battery to medication is "shockingly" simple.

[Crybaby-Media]

It’s already been said . But as someone with bipolar watching this 4 years later . Your explanation of the condition is so good . I wish everyone understood bipolar the way you so clearly explain. It’s awkward when people use “bipolar” to explain their mood swingy baby or something and I don’t wanna say anything about how they’re wrong. . People joke about bipolar and depression and they are very serious topics that really shouldn’t be joked about or minimized/misunderstood .

[storytime]

Dr: Do you have insurnece?
Me: No....
Dr: Eat these batteries...
Me: 😐

[ELNS]

As someone who suffers from bipolar disorder -mixed bipolar disorder rapid cycling-I really appreciate you making sure that the information you provided on the subject was accurate so many people provide information on bipolar disorder that is incredibly incorrect. This just makes me love your videos even more.

so I and I’m sure the rest of the bipolar community thank you for educating people on the subject and doing so in an unbiased and correct manner

[idk]

Thank you for helping raise awareness of this disorder I have sadly lost a close friend to bipolar disorder. I hope this video helped some people understand more about the disorder because on the last week before I lost my friend he was talking about how his parents were just saying that he was depressed and he would feel better soon.

[Wi-Fi-El]

Jesus: *turns water into wine*
Nile: hold my beaker

[effy]

the info about the disorder itself was so straight forward and well explained, bro after years of therapy for it i cant believe this is the 1st time someone explains it to me decently

[LSzoo]

I love you for this, I’m bipolar and while I don’t take lithium I appreciate how you talked about the condition with such care. I’ve been a fan of your videos for a while and hadn’t seen this one yet and it just makes me so happy 🙌🏻

[jhunkubabu]

I am a 19 year old chemistry student diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Thank you for making this video and spending time talking about this disorder. Public understanding of it would really help every day life of people like me.

[theCodyReeder]

Or you could just buy lithium carbonate by the pound from a ceramic supply store... (I'm one to talk, lol) also why not just add the carbonate directly to the hydroxide solution? just more chemistry to explain I suppose. Great video by the way!

[supersungal]

I have bipolar 2 (in remission yay) and I'm really grateful I don't have to take lithium and I'm on Lamictal instead (which is one of the anticonvulsants). I've heard plenty of horror stories about lithium. I've been watching these videos a lot recently and I think they're super interesting! Thanks for being respectful about the disorder and not making it out to be some "big bad". I appreciate it.

[LordEgilYGO]

NileRed: I got an 85% yield
Me: Nice, much better than usual
NileRed: But the reaction is so straightforward, it should be closer to 100%, so 85% is low.
Me: ...

[juanpablo]

"Depression and hypomania"
Hypo meaning less than, and mania meaning mania.