Treatment-resistant major depression and bipolar disorder are highly prevalent and disabling conditions associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. The assessment and management of refractory patients with mood disorders is a major clinical challenge for mental health providers. Part of the Oxford Psychiatry Library (OPL) series, this pocketbook provides a concise view of the current definitions, assessment and evidence-based management of treatment-resistant mood disorders and reviews novel therapeutic targets for mood disorders, which may enhance the therapeutic armamentarium of clinicians in the near future. The pocketbook serves as a useful guide for mental health practitioners, including psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, trainees, and interested primary care physicians.

André Carvalho's profile page

Roger McIntyre's profile page

Professor André F. Carvalho, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Psychiatry Research Group, Faculty of Medicine at Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE Brazil. Roger S. McIntyre is currently a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto and Head of the Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit at the University Health Network, Toronto, Canada. He was named by Thomson Reuters in 2014 as one of "The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds" for publishing the largest number of articles that rank among those most frequently cited by researchers globally during the previous decade. Dr. McIntyre is involved in multiple research endeavours which primarily aim to characterize the association between mood disorders, notably cognitive function and medical comorbidity. This body of work has provided a platform for identifying novel molecular targets to treat and prevent mood disorders and accompanying cognitive impairment.

"This is an excellent topic for such a book, and one that has been well conceptualized. The combination of MDD and BPD in one resource is in keeping with the clinical realities, including the uncertainty of diagnosis or the need to reconsider the diagnosis when treatment resistance occurs."

--Larry Culpepper, MD, MPH, Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

"There is a real need for this in multiple domains. First as a resource for clinicians both regarding to practical issues but also in providing an expertly informed conceptual framework for thinking about TRD and about strategies for escalating therapy in those potentially treatment resistant."

--Larry Culpepper, MD, MPH, Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

"Innovative approaches such as 'Determinants of treatment resistance: Health systems and public policy implications'; 'Novel non-invasive brain stimulation approaches for treatment-resistant mood disorders'; 'Novel therapeutic targets for major depressive disorder' ... will be well received."

--Sergio A. Strejilevich, Bipolar Disorder Program, Institute of Neurosciences, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina

"This will be a unique resource that combines MDD and BPD, and is up to date and evidence based."

--Larry Culpepper, MD, MPH, Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA