Depression

This text on depression attempts to distil some of the apparently conflicting information and clarify issues that have arisen in the wake of recent increases in research, particularly in the neurosciences. The discussion first addresses fundamental issues, including classification. It then examines some developments of the biological approach, followed by a psychoanalytic view of the transition from the classic to the dynamic concept of personality in melancholia. Coverage of the therapeutic approaches to depressive illness begins with a review of cognitive psychotherapy and of the pertinent, growing problems of treating the elderly. The chapters devoted to treatment conclude with a look at lithium and ECT.