In the 1950s, psychiatric "miracle drugs" revolutionized the treatment of depression, improving the quality of life of countless patients. Over half a century and millions of prescriptions later, advances in brain structure, neurochemistry, and genetics are providing clues to the mechanisms of depression and pointing to new therapeutic possibilities.

Depression and Drugs makes the most of these recent developments, introducing both a neurobehavioral theory of chemical/behavioral interactions and a practical framework for modernizing the conceptualization, assessment, and treatment of depression. Its multidimensional analysis offers insights into the brain structures most affected by the disorder, and the complex phenomena involved in medication. By focusing on cognitive, behavioral, and mood effects as well as brain chemistry, the author identifies false leads that have led to impasses in developing better antidepressants and explains why "mild" cases are often the hardest to treat. These groundbreaking ideas bring readers their closest to scientifically answering the eternal questions How do depressive states form? and How do drugs resolve them? Included in the coverage:

• Dimensions versus diagnosis in depression research.
• The experience of the severe depressed state.
• The componential approach to developing measures of mood and behavior.
• Testing new hypotheses about chemistry, depression, and drugs.
• Developing a more effective clinical trial model.

• Plus appendices detailing emerging assessment methods. This knowledge has the potential for sparking change across a number of fields, making Depression and Drugs of immediate interest to graduate students in psychology and medicine, practicing clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical psychopharmacologists, and basic researchers in psychology andneuropsychopharmacology.

  Autorentext
  Dr. Katz received his PhD from the University of Texas in psychology and physiology in 1955. From 1958 to 1968, he served in the National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) newly formed branch on psychopharmacology as Executive Secretary of the Institute's 1st Psychopharmacology Advisory Committee, then, in 1965 as head of its Special Studies Section. In 1968 he was appointed Chief of the NIMH's Clinical Research Branch. That program was charged with expanding research on the causes and treatment of schizophrenia and the affective disorders. It initiated national conferences and developed landmark collaborative programs on the testing of the new biochemical and clinical theories of the genesis of the disorders. The biology and clinical Collaborative and the Clinical Center programs created by Dr. Katz and Branch staff (19701978), were responsible for the training of many young investigators and provided needed methodology for expanding research in these fields. He co-chaired the Clinical and Biological Collaborative programs in their early development. The Collaborative programs were in operation for several decades under NIMH grants. In 1984, he joined the psychiatry faculty at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York as Professor and established the 1st Division of Psychology and Laboratory of Psychopathology at the College. Since 1996, he has been an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, where he has conducted grant-supported research on the biological aspects of depression and the neurobehavioral mechanisms of action of antidepressant drugs".

  Zusammenfassung
  This book integrates the current state of knowledge on the association of neurochemical and psychological factors underlying the concept of depression or on the process and nature of the drug-induced changes that lead to recovery. Highlighting the results of two major multisite collaborative studies of the psychobiology of depression, the author demonstrates how more refined clinical methods uncover the initial behavioral actions of the drugs and chart the time course of their actions. The results disconfirm earlier textbook reported findings that these actions are delayed for several weeks beyond the almost immediate neurochemical effects. The multivantaged method makes possible distinguishing the clinical actions of different classes of antidepressant drugs.

  Inhalt
  Introduction.- Uncovering the Interaction of Chemistry and Behavior in Depression: Dimensions vs. Diagnosis in Structuring Research.- Depression is a Storm not a Lowering of Spirit: The Experience of the Severe Depressed State.- Rashomon and the Componential Approach to Developing Measures of Mood and Behavior.- Dimensions of Depression: The Conflictual Structure of the Depressed State.- False Assumptions: The Multidimensional Quality and its Relationships to Functioning of the Central Nervous System.- Testing New Hypotheses about Neurochemistry, Depression and Drugs.- Developing a More Effective and More
  Efficient Clinical Trial Model.- Elaboration of the New Theory of Depression and Conclusions.- Postscript.- Appendix 1 The Multivantaged (MV) Assessment Methods.- Appendix 2 The Video Interview Behavior Evaluation Scales (VIBES).