This issue discusses the diagnosis and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) and other depressive disorders, with an emphasis on the psychosocial aspects of depression: how it affects societies, how it is affected by culture, and what the true meaning of recovery is for those suffering from MDD. The issue is divided into three section: Etiology, Diagnosis and Treatment.? Authors address the evidence where biology and subjectivity meet.? They discuss what is adaptive and what is pathologic and discuss population-based solutions that take into account the specificity of the individual.? Authors also take into account combination treatments of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy and weigh the treatment choices against specific patient subtypes.

The troubling increase in treatment resistance in psychiatry has many culprits: the rise of biomedical psychiatry and corresponding sidelining of psychodynamic and psychosocial factors; the increased emphasis on treating the symptoms rather than the person; and a greater focus on the electronic medical record rather than the patient, all of which point to a breakdown in the person-centered prescriber-patient relationship. Psychodynamic Psychopharmacology illuminates a new path forward. It examines the psychological and interpersonal mechanisms of pharmacological treatment resistance, integrating research on evidence-based prescribing processes with psychodynamic insights and skills to enhance treatment outcomes for patients who are difficult to treat. The first part of the book explores the evidence base that guides how, rather than simply what, to prescribe. It describes precisely what psychodynamic psychopharmacology is and why its emphasis on combining the often-neglected psychosocial aspects of medication with biomedical considerations provides a more optimized approach to addressing treatment resistance. Part II delves into the psychodynamics that contribute to pharmacological treatment resistance, both when patients' ambivalence about their illness, the medication itself, or their prescriber manifests in nonadherence and when medications support a negative identity or are used as replacements for healthy capacities. Readers will gain basic skills for addressing the psychological and interpersonal dynamics that underpin both scenarios and will be better positioned to ameliorate interferences with the healthy use of medications. The final section of the book offers detailed technical recommendations for addressing pharmacological treatment resistance. It tackles issues that include countertransference-driven irrational prescribing; primitive dynamics, such as splitting and projective identification; and the overlap between psychopharmacological treatment resistance and the dynamics of treatment nonadherence and nonresponse in integrated and collaborative medical care settings. By putting the individual patient back at the center of the therapeutic equation, psychodynamic psychopharmacology, as outlined in this book, offers a model that moves beyond compliance and emphasizes instead the alliance between patient and prescriber. In doing so, it empowers patients to become more active contributors in their own recovery.

Anarchy. The word conjures images from fraternity house shenanigans to rioting and looting on the streets of important cities at its mention. For most civilized persons, with these mental images close at hand, Anarchy is something to be avoided at all costs. How can civilized society carry on with the threat of bombs and looting effectively slamming the brakes on human progress? In Volume IV of His groundbreaking series, David Mint explores the concept of Anarchy not as a menace, but as an ultimate given.

Could it be that it is not how, but what we use as money that matters when contemplating the root causes of Climate Change and other global problems? Why What We Use as Money Matters: Unpacking the Key to Reversing the Effects of Climate Change is an Economic and Philosophical Treatise written by Monetary Theorist David Mint which explores these issues in an entertaining and thorough fashion.