An overview of the latest in research and development of affective disorders. General principles, specific problems and settings are covered. The contributors take both a theoretical and practical approach to the origin and course of affective disorders.

Depression is a widespread condition affecting approximately 7.5 million parents in the U.S. each year and may be putting at least 15 million children at risk for adverse health outcomes. Based on evidentiary studies, major depression in either parent can interfere with parenting quality and increase the risk of children developing mental, behavioral and social problems. Depression in Parents, Parenting, and Children highlights disparities in the prevalence, identification, treatment, and prevention of parental depression among different sociodemographic populations. It also outlines strategies for effective intervention and identifies the need for a more interdisciplinary approach that takes biological, psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and social contexts into consideration. A major challenge to the effective management of parental depression is developing a treatment and prevention strategy that can be introduced within a two-generation framework, conducive for parents and their children. Thus far, both the federal and state response to the problem has been fragmented, poorly funded, and lacking proper oversight. This study examines options for widespread implementation of best practices as well as strategies that can be effective in diverse service settings for diverse populations of children and their families. The delivery of adequate screening and successful detection and treatment of a depressive illness and prevention of its effects on parenting and the health of children is a formidable challenge to modern health care systems. This study offers seven solid recommendations designed to increase awareness about and remove barriers to care for both the depressed adult and prevention of effects in the child. The report will be of particular interest to federal health officers, mental and behavioral health providers in diverse parts of health care delivery systems, health policy staff, state legislators, and the general public.

In this publication a comprehensive overview of the state of the art and future perspectives is given in the fields of basic research, diagnosis, therapy, suicide and relapse prevention, and psychiatric care regarding patients with affective disorders. Presented are decisive new developments which have been milestones in basic research or diagnosis, pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy of affective disorders. The contributions of renowned experts in the field include quantitative brain morphology and developments in genetics and neurochemistry. Special attention has been given to neuropharmacology, pharmacogenetics, electrophysiology, structural and functional neuroimaging of affective disorders as well as new therapeutic options in the field of psychotherapy. Moreover, important clinical issues such as modern aspects of preventing relapse, suicide and postnatal depression in mothers are discussed. Psychiatrists, psychotherapists, neurobiologists and students who participate in the treatment of patients with affective diseases will find this book valuable reading.

To date, no other book has truly integrated the interpersonal, cognitive, and social perspectives on depression research. This book provides that integration and will hopefully stimulate it further. This book also showcases a wide variety of research.

Part I. Personality factors; Part II. Risk and course; Part III. Social support; Part IV. Marital and family interaction; Part V. Intervention; Index.

2013 sees the centenary of Jaspers' foundation of psychopathology as a science in its own right. In 1913 Karl Jaspers published his psychiatric opus magnum - the Allgemeine Psychopathologie (General Psychopathology). Jaspers was working at a time much like our own - with rapid expansion in the neurosciences, and responding to the philosophical challenges that this raised. The idea inspiring his book was very simple: to bring order into the chaos of abnormal psychic phenomena by rigorous description, definition and classification, and to empower psychiatry with a valid and reliable method to assess and make sense of abnormal human subjectivity. After almost one century, many of the concepts challenged by Jaspers are still at issue, and Jaspers' investigation is even now the ground for analyses and discussions. With a new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) imminent, many of the issues concerning methodology and diagnosis are still the subject of much discussion and debate. This volume brings together leading psychiatrists and philosophers to discuss and evaluate the impact of this volume, its relevance today, and the legacy it left. "Jaspers' General Psychopathology is not an easy text to read. Especially nowadays, in the Internet era, it may appear in several parts obscure, convoluted, or repetitive. This is why the present volume has the potential to be not only attractive to scholars, but also extremely useful for young psychiatrists and busy clinicians. It may represent for them a 'guide' to the reading of that ponderous text, helping them to extract the key messages that are likely to resonate with, and at the same time enrich, their clinical practice and theoretical reflection." - From the Introduction by Mario Maj

Fully updated throughout, this new edition provides a highly readable and comprehensive account of modern general adult psychiatry.