From a Nature Magazine review:

He wondered whether lithium could have the same tranquillizing effect on his patients. After trying it out on himself to establish a safe dose, Cade began treating ten people with mania. In September 1949, he reported fast and dramatic improvements in all of them in the Medical Journal of Australia (J. F. J. Cade Med. J. Aus. 2, 349–351; 1949). The majority of these patients had been in and out of Bundoora for years; now, five had improved enough to return to their homes and families.

Lithium: A Doctor, a Drug, and a Breakthrough Walter A. BrownLiveright (2019)

Some 70 years ago, John Cade, an Australian psychiatrist, discovered a medication for bipolar disorder that helped many patients to regain stability swiftly. Lithium is now the standard treatment for the condition, and one of the most consistently effective medicines in psychiatry. But its rise was riddled with obstacles. The intertwined story of Cade and his momentous finding is told in Lithium, a compelling book by US psychiatrist Walter Brown.

Read first part of Chapter 1:

To read more click on following link: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02480-0?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20190829&utm_source=nature_etoc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190829&sap-outbound-id=BBBDB22DFC5EF7E2826B76187F671FEEEA0EA3C0&utm_source=hybris-campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=000_SKN6563_0000014441_41586-Nature-20190829-EAlert&utm_content=EN_internal_32046_20190829&mkt-key=005056B0331B1EE88A92FE6D6D25F179