Mood Disorders Across the Life Span

Mood Disorders Across the Life Span

Edited by Kenneth I. Shulman, Mauricio Tohen, and Stanley P. Kutcher

Mood disorders are increasingly recognized as chronic conditions that require life-long monitoring for episodic recurrences, acute treatment, and prevention efforts. The first major reference work to focus on this aspect of these conditions, Mood Disorders Across the Life Span provides a longitudinal perspective on age-associated variations in the clinical presentation and treatment of bipolar disorder.

The book opens with discussions of the models for classification, epidemiology, and genetics of mood disorders. The text then covers the commonly recognized age categories in separate sections: Childhood and Adolescence, Adulthood, and Old Age. Within each of these age-specific sections are six individual chapters. The first three cover the clinical features and pathogenesis, outcome studies, and treatment for depression; the next three chapters address the same topics regarding mania. This uniform presentation enables readers to compare related data from the various age groups.

Topics covered in this book include:
* Genetics and age at onset of mood disorders
* Clinical features and pathogenesis of depression and mania in childhood and adolescence, adulthood, and old age
* Outcome of depressive and manic syndromes from childhood to old age
* Treatment of depression and mania from childhood to old age
* Pharmacological treatment of bipolar disorder throughout the life cycle


Written by a collection of internationally recognized clinical researchers in psychiatry, this pioneering work is an essential resource for all psychiatrists concerned with the understanding and management of mood disorders. Psychiatric residents and graduate students in psychology, psychopharmacology, and social work will also find this book an ideal introduction to this increasingly important field.