Mania: A Short History of Bipolar Disorder

This provocative history of bipolar disorder illuminates how perceptions of illness, if not the illnesses themselves, are mutable over time.

Beginning with the origins of the concept of mania—and the term maniac—in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, renowned psychiatrist David Healy examines how concepts of mental afflictions evolved as scientific breakthroughs established connections between brain function and mental illness. Healy recounts the changing definitions of mania through the...