Draft of a theory of manic-depressive illness and endogenous depression

Depressive disorders are more common in the relatives of depressed probands than in the population at large, and there is compelling evidence that the familial aggregation of bipolar disorder and severe unipolar depression is at least partly due to genetic factors. However, the evidence concerning ‘non-endogenous' depression is less clear, and family environment probably plays a stronger role. Much current research is focused on two areas: firstly, the mode of inheritance of manic-depressive illness, with the use of molecular biological techniques to detect and localise major genes; and secondly, the ways in which familial predisposition and environmental insults combine to produce depressive disorder.

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Review of Lithium Treatment of Manic-Depressive Illness: A Practical Guide. 2nd rev. ed.

Contemporary Psychology ◽

10.1037/022757 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 264-264

Author(s):

No authorship indicated

Keyword(s):

Lithium Treatment ◽

Depressive Illness ◽

Manic Depressive Illness ◽

Practical Guide ◽

Manic Depressive

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Rapid Cycling Bipolar Manic Depressive Illness

Psychiatric Clinics of North America ◽

10.1016/s0193-953x(18)30990-0 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 461-467 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

David L. Dünner

Keyword(s):

Depressive Illness ◽

Rapid Cycling ◽

Manic Depressive Illness ◽

Manic Depressive

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Conditioning and Sensitisation in the Longitudinal Course of Affective Illness

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.149.2.191 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 149 (2) ◽

pp. 191-201 ◽

Cited By ~ 247

Author(s):

Robert M. Post ◽

David R. Rubinow ◽

James C. Ballenger

Keyword(s):

Depressive Illness ◽

Manic Depressive Illness ◽

Conceptual Approach ◽

Longitudinal Course ◽

Behavioural Sensitisation ◽

Affective Illness ◽

Biological Variables ◽

Manic Depressive ◽

Progressive Course

Few biological theories of manic-depressive illness have focused on the longitudinal course of affective dysfunction and the mechanisms underlying its often recurrent and progressive course. The authors discuss two models for the development of progressive behavioural dysfunction—behavioural sensitisation and electrophysiological kindling—as they provide clues to important clinical and biological variables relevant to sensitisation in affective illness. The role of environmental context and conditioning in mediating behavioural and biochemical aspects of this sensitisation is emphasised. The sensitisation models provide a conceptual approach to previously inexplicable clinical phenomena in the longitudinal course of affective illness and may provide a bridge between psychoanalytic/psychosocial and neurobiological formulations of manic-depressive illness.

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