Clinicians recognize that monitoring psychotropic levels provides invaluable information to optimize therapy and track treatment adherence, but they lack formal training specifically focused on the use of plasma antipsychotic levels for these purposes. As new technologies emerge to rapidly provide these results, the opportunity to integrate this information into clinical care will grow. This practical handbook clarifies confusing concepts in the literature on use of antipsychotic levels, providing clear explanations for the logic underlying clinically relevant concepts such as the therapeutic threshold and the point of futility, and how these apply to individual antipsychotics. It offers accessible information on the expected correlation between dosages and trough levels, and also provides a clear explanation of how to use antipsychotic levels for monitoring oral antipsychotic adherence, and methods to help clinicians differentiate between poor adherence and variations in drug metabolism. An essential resource for psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and mental health professionals worldwide.

A comprehensive and accessible guide to using antipsychotic levels for optimizing effectiveness and monitoring oral antipsychotic adherence.

Real-world and clinical trial data support that clozapine is the only effective antipsychotic for treatment resistant schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses. Clozapine also reduces rates of suicidality, psychiatric hospitalization and all-cause mortality. However, clozapine is underutilized for two reasons: misunderstandings of its efficacy benefits and misapprehension of, limited knowledge or misinformation about the management of treatment related risks and adverse effects. In response to worldwide efforts to promote clozapine use, this user-friendly Handbook provides clinicians with evidence-based approaches for patient management, as well as logical approaches to the management of clinical situations and adverse effects. It outlines clearly the rationale for specific management decisions and prioritises the options based on this logic. This Handbook is designed for use by clinicians worldwide and is essential reading for all mental health care professionals.

This manual attempts to provide simple, adequate and evidence-based information to health care professionals in primary health care especially in low- and middle-income countries to be able to provide pharmacological treatment to persons with mental disorders. The manual contains basic principles of prescribing followed by chapters on medicines used in psychotic disorders; depressive disorders; bipolar disorders; generalized anxiety and sleep disorders; obsessive compulsive disorders and panic attacks; and alcohol and opioid dependence. The annexes provide information on evidence retrieval, assessment and synthesis and the peer view process.

Antipsychotic Long-acting Injections (LAIs) were introduced in the 1960s to improve treatment adherence in schizophrenia. Subsequently, first-generation antipsychotic LAIs became widely used in many countries. Since the initial publication of Antipsychotic Long-acting Injections in 2010, new trial data have been published on long-acting injection (LAI) preparations of the drugs Risperidone, Paliperidone, and Olanzapine. Furthermore, a new LAI preparation of the drug Aripiprazole has recently been approved for clinical use in the United States and is likely to be approved in Europe soon. The second edition of this successful book has been fully updated to include this new data, with reference to both observational studies and randomized controlled trials, as well as other new developments in the clinical use of antipsychotic LAIs. New chapters have been added covering the comparison between oral and injectable antipsychotics, Olanzapine LAI, Aripiprazole LAI, and the practicalities of organizing a specialized clinic for long-acting injectable antipsychotics. Existing chapters have also been thoroughly updated to take into account the most recently published research. Antipsychotic Long-acting Injections, Second edition brings together clinical and research findings on LAIs in a comprehensive volume, with chapters written by international experts.

The new edition of this popular handbook has been thoroughly updated to include the latest data concerning treatment of first-episode patients. Drawing from their experience, the authors discuss the presentation and assessment of the first psychotic episode and review the appropriate use of antipsychotic agents and psychosocial approaches in effective management.