Biological Treatments for Mental Disorders

Antipsychotic drugs can help some people with schizophrenia live normal lives. At left, Danny Dunn (seated) poses with her mother. Danny was diagnosed as having schizophrenia and bipolar disorder when she was 17, but medication, therapy, and family support help her function. “I still have challenges and problems,” Danny says, “but life is so much better than it used to be.” The photo on the right shows USC law professor Elyn Saks, who also benefited from medication and therapy, and wrote a memoir of her “journey through madness.” She received a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” for her contributions to mental health law.