Schizophrenia And Manic-depressive Disorder: The Biological Roots Of Mental Illness As Revealed By The Landmark Study Of Identical Twins
Schizophrenia is now understood to be a biologically based condition, and previous studies have established that people with an identical twin who is schizophrenic are at high risk for developing the disease. The study Torrey is considering looks at identical twin pairs in which one sibling is schizophrenic and the other is not, in order to investigate other, nongenetic causes. The results indicate that the schizophrenic twin is more likely to have suffered injury as a fetus and newborn, although the picture is complicated and such factors are not universally present. The authors are to be applauded for presenting the material in a fashion that is comprehensible to the nonspecialist. But their book is too narrowly focused to be a necessary purchase for most public libraries, whose patrons' needs will be well served by one of Torrey's earlier books, Surviving Schizophrenia: A Family Manual (HarperCollins, 1988. rev. ed.). The current title is recommended for academic libraries with programs or courses in clinical or abnormal psychology.- Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, Wa.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.