Hagop Souren Akiskal (; 16 January 1944 – 20 January 2021) was a Lebanese-born American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

and professor, of Armenian descent. He is best known for his research on

temperament In psychology, temperament broadly refers to consistent individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes. Some researchers point to association of tempera ...

and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

(manic depression), revolutionizing the field of

clinical psychiatry Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or Mental disorder, dysfunction and to promote ...

Biography

Hagop Souren Akiskal was born on 16 January 1944, in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, to Armenian parents. He received his

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

in 1969. He completed his residency training in psychiatry at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. Akiskal then worked for several years as a clinician and mood disorders researcher and Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. He was senior science advisor at

NIMH NIMH may refer to: * Nickel–metal hydride battery (NiMH), a type of electrical battery *National Institute of Mental Health, an agency of the United States government * National Institute of Medical Herbalists, a professional organisation in the ...

from 1990 to 1994, before moving to the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. Akiskal was a leading conceptual thinker in the area of bipolar sub-typing. He was a fastidious researcher and an astute clinical observer. He was a devotee of

Emil Kraepelin Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 15 February 1856 – 7 October 1926) was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychiatric ...

; he believed that the nosologic (classification) pendulum is gradually swinging back towards Kraepelin's original unitary concept of the bipolar spectrum of mood disorders (Lieber, Arnold). Akiskal rose to prominence with his integrative theory of depression. Subsequently, he established chronic depressions as treatable mood disorders. His research on

cyclothymia Cyclothymia (, ), also known as cyclothymic disorder, psychothemia / psychothymia, bipolar III, affective personality disorder and cyclothymic personality disorder, is a mental disorder, mental and Abnormal behaviour, behavioural Disease#Disorder ...

paved the way for understanding the childhood antecedents of bipolarity, and helped in the worldwide renaissance of the temperament field. His focus on subthreshold mood disorders enlarged the boundaries of bipolar disorders. He received the gold medal for Pioneer Research (Society of Biological Psychiatry), the German Anna Monika Prize for Depression, the NARSAD Prize for Affective Disorders, the 2002 Jean Delay Prize for international collaborative research (

World Psychiatric Association The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) is an international Umbrella organization, umbrella organisation of psychiatric societies. Objectives and goals Originally created to produce world psychiatric congresses, it has evolved to hold regional ...

), as well as the French Jules Baillarger and the Italian Aretaeus Prizes for his research on the bipolar spectrum. Akiskal has pioneered in the study of outpatient mood disorders. At the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, he established mood clinics which have had worldwide appeal because of his philosophy of conducting clinical training and research while delivering high quality care. His clinical expertise ranged from

dysthymia Dysthymia ( ), known as persistent depressive disorder (PDD) in the DSM-5-TR and dysthymic disorder in ICD-11, is a psychiatric condition marked by symptoms that are similar to those of major depressive disorder, but which persist for at leas ...

to bipolar spectrum disorders, as well as comorbidity, resistant depression, interface of personality with mood disorders, mixed states, anxious bipolarity, and PTSD. In 2003, he received the

Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born ...

"for exceptional national humanitarian service."Past Medalists
, National Ethnic Coalition. Accessed 22 January 2010 He was a highly prolific writer of articles in psychiatry and the editor of several academic journals, including serving as a co-Editor-in-Chief of the

Journal of Affective Disorders The ''Journal of Affective Disorders'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering research on all aspects of affective disorders. It is published by Elsevier and its editors-in-chief are P. Brambilla and J.C. Soares. It was established in 1979 and ...

. He has received a number of honors for his work on temperament and bipolar spectrum disorders. Akiskal died of natural causes on January 20, 2021, at age 77, in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

in San Diego, California.

References

External links

Faculty profile page
at UCSD {{DEFAULTSORT:Akiskal, Hagop S. American psychiatrists 21st-century American psychologists Bipolar disorder researchers Psychiatry academics Lebanese psychiatrists American University of Beirut alumni University of Tennessee faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Lebanese people of Armenian descent Lebanese emigrants to the United States American people of Armenian descent 1944 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American psychologists University of Wisconsin–Madison fellows