Review of the book entitled Transtornos depressivos

BOOK REVIEW

Review of the book entitled Transtornos depressivos (Depressive disorders)

Reseña del libro Transtornos depressivos

Marcelo Pio de Almeida Fleck

Psychiatrist, member of the Sociedade de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul

^{Correspondence}

TRANSTORNOS DEPRESSIVOS

Mário Maj e Norman Sartorius (eds.)

Porto Alegre, Artmed, 2005

Transtornos depressivos (Depressive disorders), a book from the World Psychiatric Association and now translated into Brazilian Portuguese (Ed. Artmed), is an important instrument for mental health care professionals interested in the theme of depression. Its editors, Norman Sartorius and Mario Maj, are outstanding figures in the scenery of psychiatry, both for their contribution about the theme and for their open point of view, which provides new trends for the future of psychiatry.

In the preface, they summarize the book's objective : "It is the editor's hope that the volumes will inform and stimulate further discussion, attract attention to controversial issues, and help to recreate respect for clinical experience and differences of opinion between psychiatrists in different parts of the world, all united in their wish to find a consensus that will make it possible to move psychiatry forward, and make it even more useful in diminishing the burden of mental illnesses and the plight of the many suffering from them."

The book is organized as it follows: 1) Diagnostic of depressive disorders; 2) Pharmacological treatment of depressive disorders; 3) Psychotherapies for depressive disorders; 4) Depressive disorders in children and adolescents; 5) Depressive disorders in the elderly; 6) Costs of depressive disorders. The chapters were written by skilled professors and researchers, such as the Dane professor Per Bech, and the North-Americans Jerrold Rosenbaun, from Harvard, John Rush, from Texas University, and Michael Thase, from the Pittsburgh University.

At the end of each chapter, an extensive list of references is provided (between 130 and 270), followed by a very original one-page section of comments made by highly-qualified psychiatrists from different parts of the world: Robert Kendell, Jules Angst, Pierre Pichot, Hermann van Praag, Martin Keller, Hagop Akiskal; the Brazilian professor Miguel Jorge, and others from more distant places: professor Toshinori Kitamura, from Japan, Ahmed Okasha, from Egypt, Angel Ojeda, from Cuba, and Nikolai Kornetov, from Russia, among others.

The book layout, besides providing the reader with update topics, fosters critical discussion of the literature, offering the transcultural approach of authors with very distinct points of view. Three years ago, the original version (in English) was the object of study of the Program of Mood Disorders at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, and it was very well accepted by residents, who developed productive discussions based on the book.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  22 Aug 2006
• Date of issue
  Aug 2005