Book Description
Thirteen out of every 1,000 people (1.3%) will have some form of manic-depressive illness during their lifetimes. Many who seek treatment will find they can control their illness with lithium. But for those who do not find relief with or cannot tolerate lithium, carbamazepine, commonly used to treat seizure disorders and pain syndromes, is often effective. Drs. Medenwald, Greist, and Jefferson give a thorough, up-to-date, easy-to-read description of how carbamazepine is used to control mental and emotional conditions characterized by wide and often disabling mood swings and answer the questions patients and their families often ask. As practicing psychiatrists they are familiar with the latest research findings, as well as with how carbamazepine has affected their patients and what those patients most wanted to know.

From the Publisher
One in a series of concise, easy-to-understand, up-to-date booklets on major mental illnesses and their treatments. There is a lot of information circulating, and it is difficult to separate the useful from the trivial. A team of results-oriented clinicians wrote each of the guides. They draw on their own research findings and their own experiences working with patients and sort through studies done by other clinicians to present information on the latest, most efficient, effective treatments known. There is background information on each illness, often some self-help suggestions, and always the answers to commonly asked questions. Whether you need the information for yourself, a family member, a friend, a colleague, or a patient, one of these guides will prove invaluable.

About the Authors
John H. Greist, M.D., is a Distinguished Senior Scientist at the Dean Foundation for Health, Research and Education in Middleton, Wisconsin, and Clincial Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison. He is also director of the Psychiatric Computing Laboratory and cofounder and codirector of the Lithium Information Center and the Obsessive Compulsive Information Center, both now at the Dean Foundation. His major clinical and research interests are anxiety and mood disorders, psychopharmacology, behavior therapy, and clinical applications of computer technology. In addition to numerous articles in professional journals and chapters in books, he has coauthored books such as Antidepressant Treatment, Depression and Its Treatment, Anxiety and Its Treatment, Primer of Lithium Therapy, Lithium Encyclopedia for Clinical Practice, Fearless Flying, and Run to Reality, and the patient booklets in this series, Antipsychotic Medications and Schizophrenia: A Guide, Carbamazepine and Manic Depression: A Guide, Divalproex and Manic Depression: A Guide (originally Valproate and Manic Depression: A Guide), Depression and Antidepressants: A Guide, Fearful Flyer's Guide, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Guide, Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia: A Guide, and Social Phobia: A Guide. Dr. Greist received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1961 and his M.D. from Indiana University in 1965. Following a medical internship at the University of Wisconsin, he completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of Wisconsin where he was chief resident in 1969-1970. In his final year of psychiatry residency at the University of Wisconsin (1970-1971), he was a fellow in child psychiatry; he joined the faculty of the department in 1971. Dr. Greist is board certified in psychiatry.