Employing accessible language throughout this book covers the history of psychiatric research
the current state-of-the art in psychiatric practice the physiological systems affected by
psychiatric illnesses the whole-body nature of these diseases and the impact that this aspect
has on emerging biomarker discoveries. Further it provides descriptions of the major specific
psychiatric disorders and the special challenges regarding the diagnosis and treatment of each.
The book concludes with insights into the latest developments in hand-held biomarker test
devices which can provide diagnostic information in less than 15 minutes in point-of-care
settings. This book investigates the emerging use of biomarkers in the study of psychiatric
diseases a topic of considerable importance for a broad range of people including researchers
clinicians psychiatrists university students and even those whose lives are affected in some
way by a psychiatric illness. The last category is hardly trivial since a staggering one in
three people worldwide show the criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder at some point in
their lifetime.
