The lack of ability to empathize is central to many psychiatric conditions, but it can be measured and improved. This book, first published in 2007, specifically focuses on the role of empathy in mental illness. Mental heath professionals will find this a very useful encapsulation of the role of empathy in mental health.

The lack of ability to emphathise is central to many psychiatric conditions. Empathy is affected by neurodevelopment, brain pathology and psychiatric illness. Empathy is both a state and a trait characteristic. Empathy is measurable by neuropsychological assessment and neuroimaging techniques. This book specifically focuses on the role of empathy in mental illness. It starts with the clinical psychiatric perspective and covers empathy in the context of mental illness, adult health, developmental course, and explanatory models. Psychiatrists, psychotherapists and mental heath professionals will find this a very useful encapsulation of what is currently known about the role of empathy as it relates to mental illness.