Maletic and Raison, two obviously very experience psychiatric clinician-scientists, have provided a provocative and well written tome highlighting the major advances that have occurred in the last decade concerning our understanding of depression and how this impacts current diagnostic procedures and treatment. They cover a vast and burgeoning area of neuroscience as it relates to mood disorders including genetics, epigenetics, inflammation, neuroendocrinology, brain imaging, and neurotransmitters. They excel in distilling complex science into readily understandable prose that will be a delight for students, patients, mental health professionals, and physicians of all subspecialties. The case reports at the end are a real bonus, both true to life and informative. It is rare for physicians and scientists to be able to write this well.
Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, U of Miami [A] must-read for even the most skeptical of mental health professionals because it will revolutionize their understanding of major depression and mental illness altogether and provide them with ample resources to better assist their patients.