Now fully revised and updated, this essential guide provides comprehensive coverage of the latest treatments for anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders.

Written by a clinical psychiatrist with over twenty-five years' experience in drug counseling, this handbook will answer your questions about the consequences of mind-altering drugs on the body's systems.

This guide has become a classic, an accessible & easy-to-read handbook that contains everything consumers need to know about psychiatric medications. The text, geared for both the public & the therapist alike, is an authoritative guide that allows patients & their families to understand the full implications of any psychiatric drug that has been prescribed. Completely updated with a new look at Prozac, Dr. Gorman's book will help those who already receive treatment understand more about side effects & possible withdrawal symptoms, & will help others who are considering such medication to make the right decision.

Have you ever experienced brain fog, strange moods, or suicidal thinking while on a prescription medication? Do you wonder if your doctor gave you all the necessary warnings about the mental effects of what has been prescribed? Do you sometimes think you might not need to be on all those drugs? Chances are you have not been given the opportunity for Informed Consent, because you were not told what is really known (and not known) about what the drug is doing in the body and brain, its possible side mental effects, what's known and not known about its safety, and the actual evidence regarding how well it works (or not). Any drug that causes changes in mind, mood, emotion or behavior is, by definition, a psychotropic agent, regardless of whether it is prescribed in a psychiatric setting. Psychiatric drugs have the potential to cause the very things they claim to treat, or worse. Even common, non-psychiatric medications can have profound mental effects. In today's assembly line health care with ten-minute office visits, often with only a non-physician assistant or nurse, the quick fix of dispensing a prescription almost never includes a thorough discussion of the factors you would really need to make a well-considered decision about accepting a drug. This user-friendly no-nonsense guide empowers the health care consumer with the basics in order to make informed decisions about psychiatric drugs and other meds with unsuspected mind-bending effects. Dr. Dolan is passionate about patient empowerment and believes being an informed consumer is the only protection against becoming a victim of your medications.

"Prescribing Mental Health Medication is a text for nursing and medical practitioners who are learning how to diagnose and treat mental disorders with medication. Skills-based, it focuses on the following key issues: how to start and stop medication, how to dose, when to change medication, dealing with particular kinds of patients, specific illnesses and their medication, special populations and conditions, the management of side effects, practical issues such as monitoring medication with blood levels, administrative issues such as record-keeping."--Publisher's description.