Survey of Mood Disorders Seminar

Catalog description

Mood disorders are common, sometimes debilitating, mental health conditions with considerable societal costs. These disorders include depression, bipolar disorder, and several variants of these disorders. In industrialized nations, depression alone ranks among the leading causes of disability. Bipolar disorder, while less common, is associated with even more marked impairments. In this course, we will examine mood disorders in depth, covering historical, cross-cultural, diagnostic, developmental, neuroscientific, etiological, and therapeutic issues. Throughout the course, I hope to encourage students to appreciate what we know about problems of mood, how we have acquired this knowledge, and how much we still do not understand.