Bipolar II disorder (BDII) accounts for the majority of patients with bipolar disorder (BD), yet evidence supporting first-line mood stabilising treatment with lithium and lamotrigine is scarce, and the certainty of the evidence is very low. This highlights a critical evidence gap within psychiatric care. The lithium versus lamotrigine-bipolar randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to compare lithium and lamotrigine on self-rated day-to-day mood instability (MI) and other patient-centred outcomes in BDII, hypothesising the superiority of lithium.

A two-arm, single-blind, parallel-group, superiority RCT with a target sample size of 200 patients (accounting for attrition), recruiting patients with newly diagnosed BDII from specialised outpatient mood disorder clinics in the capital region of Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants are randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive either lithium or lamotrigine for 6 months. The primary outcome is MI, assessed via daily smartphone-based mood ratings. MI is chosen as the primary outcome measure due to its internal validity as a real-life measure for patients and external validity as it reflects both illness severity and functional impairment. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of participants showing a non-response to treatment and observer-rated changes in depressive symptoms over 6 months, measured using the six-item version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Primary analyses will follow the intention-to-treat principle using linear mixed models. The trial is monitored by the good clinical practice.

Recruitment commenced on 8 May 2024, and the final participant follow-up (last patient last visit) is expected on 1 December 2027.

The trial has received approvals from the Danish Research Ethics Committee, the Danish Medicines Agency (EU CT No. 2023–5 09 607-32-00) and the Capital Region Data Agency (P-2023-307). Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

Clinicaltrials.gov/NCT06184581.

Depression and sub-diagnostic depressive syndromes are prevalent and associated with suffering and reduced life expectancy. Access to care is limited even in countries with developed healthcare systems. In this context, it is important to strengthen the self-management expertise of people suffering from depressive symptoms. Smartphones offer the possibilities for improved self-management based on long-term monitoring of symptoms.

The present multicentre randomised controlled trial (the Protecting mental health in times of change (MENTINA) trial) aims to evaluate whether (1) daily smartphone-based monitoring and automatic rule-based feedback+smartphone-based outcome evaluations versus (2) smartphone-based outcome evaluations alone will improve depressive symptoms and other clinically relevant outcomes in participants with current depressive symptoms and/or one or more prior depressive episodes during a 12-month trial period.

The MENTINA trial is a multicentre randomised controlled parallel-group trial conducted in Denmark, Germany and Spain. Participants with current depressive symptoms and/or one or more previous depressive episodes are invited to participate. The included participants will be randomised to (1) daily smartphone-based monitoring and automatic rule-based feedback+outcome evaluations via smartphone (intervention group) or (2) outcome evaluations via smartphone alone (control group). All participants can continue with ongoing treatment in case they receive it. The trial started in May 2025 and has currently included 115 participants. The outcomes are differences between the intervention group and the control group in (1) Patient Health Questionnaire 9-items (PHQ-9) measured every 14th day during the 12-month trial period (primary), (2) WHO Quality of Life-BREF, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7, monthly change in PHQ-9, proportion of participants with ≥50% reduction in PHQ-9, remission rate defined as PHQ-9≤9 and ≥5-point improvement, PHQ-9 scores after 6 months, area under the curve for PHQ-9 over the 12 months trial period, subgroup analyses in PHQ-9 in participants with or without lifetime depression, Perceived Stress Scale, user-reported healthcare contacts, usability of the app and negative effects, number of depressive episodes+duration and depressive-free days based on PHQ-9. A total of 660 participants will be included in the MENTINA trial.

The MENTINA trial is funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 101 080 651. Ethical approval and approval from Medical Agencies have been obtained from Denmark (CIV-25-02-051094), Germany (CIV-25-02-05109) and Spain (CIV-25-02-051094). The results will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals, presented at scientific meetings and disseminated to patients’ organisations and media outlets.

NCT06919133.

Version 6, January 2026.