Peter C. Whybrow

The author, a psychiatrist, attempts to explain to the lay person the physical causes of depression and mania and the way psychiatric drugs such as Prozac and Lithium work to keep these illnesses under control. He uses real-life examples of depressed and bipolar people to help the reader's understanding.

Considering that much of this book concerned brain chemistry, I thought it was reasonably understandable, and the style of writing mostly managed to avoid the denseness of a textbook. Whybrow addresses some of the various forms of talk therapies as well as medications, and he includes some helpful tables in the back of the book of anti-depressant drugs and mood stabilizers and their side effects. This is a good resource for people suffering from depression or bipolar disorder, or any other person who wants to learn about these illnesses.… (more)