Bipolar II Disorder: Recognition, Understanding, and Treatment

Review of Bipolar II Disorder:Recognition, Understanding and TreatmentThis relatively short volume of about 300 pages is an excellent overview and update on bipolar II disorder, a condition with mortality and levels of dysfunction equal to its more flamboyant cousin, bipolar I disorder. The authors describe it as a “neglected condition”. Bipolar I disorder has been much better studied and clinicians often wind applying treatments that have been well studied in bipolar I to bipolar II patients.The book is an edited compendium of twelve chapters included within four parts: Recognition, Understanding, Treatment, and Special Populations. The writing is clear, authoritative and I like the addition of “Key Points” at the end of each chapter, which serve as a summary. The authors make a solid case that bipolar II is a disorder different from bipolar I and while conveying our current state of knowledge very well, point out the large gaps in our understanding of this disorder and its optimum treatment. This book is targeted for clinicians, but is not too esoteric for the general reader seeking in-depth knowledge. Robert G. Fawcett, M.D., author of Calming the Bipolar Storm