For most of human history, mental illness has been largely untreatable. Sufferers spent their lives—if they survived—in and out of asylums, accumulating life's wreckage around them.

In 1948, all that changed when an Australian doctor and recently returned prisoner of war, working alone in a disused kitchen, set about an experimental treatment for one of the scourges of mankind: manic depression, or bipolar disorder. That doctor was John Cade and in that small kitchen he stirred up a miracle.

John Cade discovered a treatment that has become the gold standard for bipolar disorder: lithium. It is possible that this breakthrough has stopped more people from attempting suicide than any other single measure.

Lithium is the penicillin story of mental health—the first effective medication discovered for the treatment of a mental illness—and it is, without doubt, Australia's greatest mental health story.

Greg de Moore is a psychiatrist, historian and author. His four books include Finding Sanity: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder (written with Ann Westmore), which tells the story of John Cade and Australia's greatest mental health achievement: the discovery of lithium for the treatment of bipolar disorder. He has also written Tom Wills: the insubordinate life of an Australian sporting legend, which blends mental health and Australian history, has won numerous awards, and was short-listed for the National Biography Award. He is also co-author of Australia’s Game and A National Game, which document the history of Australian Rules football from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.