The value of antidepressants in bipolar disorder is the subject of significant controversy. The prescription of antidepressants remains frequent in clinical practice despite international guidelines recommending serious carefulness in their use. Caution should be exerted before the initiation of a treatment for an episode of major depression in a bipolar patient. The prescription of antidepressants might be envisaged in case of therapeutic failure with a thymostabilizing agent, and always in association with a preventive therapy.