Breakdown

Here is a riveting first-person account of manic depressive illness, told by a trained psychologist with remarkable candor and insight. The newly revised edition includes new chapters on the latest therapies, including drugs such as Prozac, which are being deployed to battle this prevalent mental disorder. A best seller in its first edition, Breakdown remains a dramatic autobiographical drama, laced with tension and chilling impact, and including a critical appraisal of various therapeutic approaches. It makes absorbing reading for anyone who has suffered from depression or knows someone who has, including psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, students and general readers interested in mental illness, its causes, effects, and treatments.

Stewart Sutherland is Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Sussex.