Affective Disorders : Epidemiology, Signs / Symptoms and Prognoses

The affective spectrum is a grouping of related psychiatric and medical disorders which may accompany bipolar, unipolar, and schizoaffective disorders at statistically higher rates than would normally be expected. These disorders are identified by a common positive response to the same types of pharmacologic treatments. They also aggregate strongly in families and may therefore share common heritable underlying physiologic anomalies. In this book, the authors discuss the epidemiology, signs and symptoms, and prognoses of affective disorders.