Manic-Depressive Illness (Hardcover)

"The best treatise on the subject since Kraepelin."--Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

"A book such as this one, devoted entirely to one major disorder, is quite rare....This thorough and most readable book by two highly regarded senior clinicians and researchers in the field is thus a most welcome addition to the clinician's bookshelf....[It] is solidly based on data, with a staggering 122 pages of references alone. Each chapter integrates the research done in the area, and there are dozens of useful tables and diagrams...It is hard to imagine a clinician working with patients with the illness (what psychiatrist does not?) or a researcher in any part of the field of mood disorders who should not have this tour de force available."--The New England Journal of Medicine

"A solid and well-balanced treatise on current thinking, knowledge, and treatment of bipolar disorder. It is encyclopedic on most topics and will useful as a reference book for the coming decade. The book is thoughtful and provocative and, at under ten cents a page, a bargain in today's economy. It is a book that will take the reader through the next decade of research and clinical practice, and it is strongly recommended for novices and oldtimers and researchers and clinicians."--Contemporary Psychology

"An extraordinary book which reviews, analyzes and interprets the world literature on manic-depressive illness...a monumental work which should be on the shelf of every practitioner, researcher and teacher. The book has the unique characteristic of being usable either as a textbook by the novice or as a reference source by the more seasoned clinician or researcher."--General Hospital Psychiatry

"An important event in the literature about serious mental illness. Ten years in the writing, the book is a landmark, the first comprehensive treatment of major affective disorders since 1953. While it is a medical and scientific text, it sets a new standard in medical writing. It is understandable to consumers and families as well as medical students, psychiatrists, psychologists, researchers, and other professionals....Authoritative, comprehensive and encyclopedic, the 27 chapters cover diagnosis, epidemiology, childhood and adolescence, genetics, suicide, personality, medical treatment, biochemistry, lithium, and the effect of alcohol and drug abuse on bipolar and unipolar patients."--NAMI Advocate

"A classic work--a textbook in scope, but literate, readable, and compassionate. Sets a new standard in scientific medical writing."--Myrna M. Weissman, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

"Provides an unprecedentedly comprehensive discussion of the disease and the patients, the advances and challenges of scientific research. An indispensable guide, providing a model of psychiatric science at its best." --Daniel X. Freedman, UCLA

"A monumental endeavor that will be an invaluable aid for comprehending a disease which strikes down all too many of the world's best and brightest."--Dr. James D. Watson

"The book contributes something that is all too rare in today's psychiatry. It makes sense of the research, places it in context, applies its results to the clinic, and struggles toward the construction of hypotheses that are based on both clinical and scientific understanding. I recommend it highly."--Herbert Pardes, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

"A treasure of information and ideas to be read carefully and often. It will enrich every doctor, who will be rewarded for reading it with improved diagnostic and therapeutic skills and a greater capacity to help all manic-depressives."--International Drug Therapy Newsletter

The revolution in psychiatry that began mid-century has led to dramatic advances in the understanding and treatment of manic-depressive illness. No other mental disorder has been the subject of such clinically useful and scientifically productive research. This book is the first to survey this massive body of evidence comprehensively and to assess its meaning for both clinician and scientist. It also vividly portrays the experience of manic-depressive illness from the perspective of patients, their doctors, and researchers, and recounts the torments of some of the great poets and composers whose art was almost certainly enriched, energized, and deepened by the extremes of manic-depressive illness. Drawing on the wisdom of classic psychiatric authors, the book encompasses knowledge about manic-depressive illness as Kraepelin originally defined it. Drs. Goodwin and Jamison's understanding of the illness, gained from their own extensive research and clinical experience, guided their interpretation of the literature. Like Kraepelin, they emphasize the cyclical course of manic-depressive illness and the essential unity of its bipolar and recurrent unipolar forms. Encyclopedic in scope, this volume exhaustively reviews the biological and genetic literature that has dominated the field in recent years. It also surveys the psychological and epidemiological evidence, as well as that pertaining to diagnostic issues, course, and outcome. The authors offer practical guidelines for differential diagnosis and clinical management. The medical treatment of manic and depressive episodes is described, strategies for preventing future episodes are given in detail, and psychotherapeutic issues common in this illness are considered. Special emphasis is given to fostering compliance with medication regimens and treating bipolar patients who abuse drugs and alcohol or who pose a risk of suicide. This book, the product of a decade of work, will be a valuable addition to the libraries of psychiatrists and other physicians, psychologists, clinical social workers, neuroscientists, pharmacologists, and the patients and families who live with manic-depressive illness.