Edward Trautner (1890-1978), a pioneer of psychopharmacology.

This article examines the scientific career of Edward Trautner, who did pioneering research in the 1950s on lithium treatment for psychiatric disorders. Trautner was the first scientist to study the mechanism of action of lithium as a psychiatric medication. His research established that lithium could be used safely and rationally, and anticipated by a decade the large volume of research in the 1960s and 1970s that led to international acceptance of lithium treatment for mood disorders. Trautner was a pioneer of biological psychiatry who considered pharmacology to be a useful therapeutical tool rather than a permanent cure for putative chemical imbalances. His research involved cross-disciplinary collaborations that combined clinical and laboratory research in the disciplines of psychiatry, physiology, biochemistry, teratology, and even oncology. Trautner himself had a multidisciplinary background that included publications in literature and philosophy.

Bipolar II disorder in rural New South Wales.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency with which bipolar II disorder (BD II) was diagnosed in clinics held in four rural towns in New South Wales (NSW). METHOD: A retrospective case file audit was conducted for patients referred for psychiatric assessment and treatment in four towns in rural NSW over a period of two years and nine months. RESULTS: Of 559 patients seen for the first time during the study period, 113 (20.2%) were diagnosed with BD II, and of these this diagnosis was made for the first time in 69 patients (61%). Associated clinical findings in BD II patients are presented and a comparison is made with patients with non-bipolar depression seen during the same period. CONCLUSION: BD II was commonly seen in these rural clinics, and appears to be often under-diagnosed in general practice, as has been found to be the case in urban centres. This is seen as a serious public health problem, which needs to be addressed by educational steps directed at general practitioners (GPs), mental health clinicians, and perhaps also the general public.