John Cade | |
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Born | Murtoa, Victoria, Australia | 18 January 1912
Died | 16 November 1980 Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia | (aged 68)
Occupation(s) | psychiatrist; army medical officer; medical scientist; mental health practitioner; prisoner of war (Australian); public servant |
Spouse | Estana Evelyn Jean Charles |
Children | John (1938), David (1940), Mary (1947), Peter (1948), Richard (1950) |
Parent | Dr David & Ellen Cade |
John Frederick Joseph Cade AO[1][2][3] (18 January 1912 – 16 November 1980) was an Australian psychiatrist who in 1948 discovered the effects of lithium carbonate as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of bipolar disorder, then known as manic depression. At a time when the standard treatments for psychosis were electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy, lithium had the distinction of being the first effective medication available to treat a mental illness.