The Essential Guide to Lithium Treatment

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Diagnosis and Classification of Mood Disorders

   • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

   Pages 1-9

3. Natural Course of Bipolar Disorder and Implications for Treatment

   • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

   Pages 11-23

4. Lithium and Its History

   • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

   Pages 25-31

5. What Is Lithium and How Does It Work?

   • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

   Pages 33-43

6. Maintenance Treatment with Lithium

   • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

   Pages 45-60

7. Treatment of Mania with Lithium

   • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

   Pages 61-70

8. Treatment of Depression with Lithium

   • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

   Pages 71-80

9. Suicide Prevention with Lithium

   • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

   Pages 81-89

10. Neuroprotection and Other Clinical Indications of Lithium

    • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

    Pages 91-102

11. Lithium During Pregnancy and in the Postpartum Period

    • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

    Pages 103-112

12. Practical Management of Lithium

    • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

    Pages 113-128

13. Adverse Effects of Lithium and Their Management

    • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

    Pages 129-139

14. Beyond Lithium: Other Treatments for Bipolar Disorder

    • Michael Bauer, Michael Gitlin

    Pages 141-154

15. Back Matter

    Pages 155-158

    PDF

This book is a practical, up-to-date guide to the correct use of lithium for the short- and long-term treatment of mood disorders. Among the subjects addressed are the pharmacology and mechanisms of action of lithium, its use for maintenance treatment, the role of lithium in the treatment of mania and depression and in suicide prevention, further clinical indications, the administration of lithium during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and adverse effects and their management. Relevant background information is provided on the diagnosis, classification, and natural course of mood disorders, and an overview of other treatments for bipolar disorder and major depression is included. Lithium is the essential medication for patients with mood disorders. The evidence of its efficacy in maintenance treatment is acknowledged in all major international treatment guidelines for bipolar disorders and, when used correctly, lithium unquestionably produces the most dramatic benefits of any medication in psychopharmacology. This essential guide is written by two international experts in the treatment of mood disorders who have more than 25 years of experience in the use of lithium and have authored numerous scientific articles on lithium.   

• Antidepressant treatment
• Bipolar disorder
• Depression
• Mania
• Mood disorders
• Pharmacotherapy
• psychopharmacology

• Technische Universtät Dresden, University Hospital Carl Gustav Car, Dresden, Germany

  Michael Bauer

• Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angele, Los Angeles, USA

  Michael Gitlin

Michael Bauer, MD, PhD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Executive Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Medical Faculty, Technische Universität Dresden, in Germany, where he is also Physician-in-Chief at the Psychiatric Hospital and Outpatient Clinics of the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus. He received his medical degree from Freie Universität Berlin School of Medicine and a PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry from Freie Universität Berlin. He is the editor together with Prof. Paul Grof and Prof Bruno-Mueller-Oerlinghausen of the definitive scientific textbook “Lithium in Neuropsychiatry-The Comprehensive Guide” (from 2006), and has authored and coauthored more than 400 articles published in peer-reviewed journals, including The Lancet, Molecular Psychiatry and The American Journal of Psychiatry, and books in the field of mood disorders. He is President of the International Group for the Study of Lithium-Treated Patients (IGSLi), chairs the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry’s (WFSBP) Task Force on Treatment Guidelines for Unipolar Depressive Disorders, and is project coordinator of the National consortium for the German Treatment Guidelines for Bipolar Disorder, and leads the National Research Network on Bipolar Disoder “BipoLife”. He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Bipolar Disorders and Pharmacopsychiatry and editor of Der Nervenarzt. 

Michael J. Gitlin, M.D. is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. He is currently the Director of the Adult Division in the Department of Psychiatry, Medical Director of the Neuropsychiatric Behavioral Health Services and Director of the Mood Disorders Clinic. From 1980 until 2004, he was the Medical Director of the Aftercare Clinic, a research clinic in schizophrenia. He is the author of many scientific articles and book chapters as well as four books, including: two editions of a solo authored psychopharmacology textbook written for nonphysician therapists entitled "The Psychotherapist's Guide to Psychopharmacology” published by the Free Press, the coauthor of “Psychotropic Drugs and Women” with Dr. Victoria Hendrick and the coauthor of “Clinician’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder: Integrating Pharmacology with Psychotherapy”, with Dr. David Miklowitz. He served as Chief of Staff at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital from 1997-1999. Among his awards are: Distinguished Educator Award in Teaching from the UCLA Department of Psychiatry (1999), Outstanding Housestaff Teaching Award, 1994 and 2008, Teacher of the Year from the Psychiatric Times in 2002; Dadone Clinical Teaching award from the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 2010; and the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award from the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 2010.

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