A guide for physicians and clinicians to understanding and choosing the proper psychiatric medications and for their patients who want to learn how this should be done. This book teaches mental health professionals how to choose and use psychotropic medications to address the biological etiology of psychiatric disease and mental health. It helps readers understand the key aspects of psychotherapy to deal with the psychosocial factors that prescribers need to know to use these medications within the context of the patient’s life. This book is based on the premise that all mental health—in the most symptomatic, impaired individual and in the most mentally healthy individual—is caused by a combination of biopsychosocial factors. Mental health professionals need to recognize and understand these factors and their interactions, and correct them. An understanding of all these factors, and of psychopharmacology, can lead to better treatment decisions. This book is for many readers: for psychiatrists who recognize the daily challenges in treating patients; for primary care physicians who identify psychiatric disorders in their patients; for non-medically-trained mental health professionals who want a more sophisticated understanding of psychopharmacology; and even for patients who want and need a better understanding of the medications their doctors have prescribed them.

The Evidence-Based Guide to Antipsychotic Medications is designed to provide both clinicians and residents with focused, comprehensive, and clinically relevant information regarding the use of antipsychotic medications to treat a broad range of psychiatric conditions -- from mood and anxiety disorders to substance abuse, personality disorders, and schizophrenia. The volume editor is a renowned psychiatrist and author with more than 25 years of experience in both clinical and research settings diagnosing and treating patients with mood and psychotic disorders. In addition, each of the volume's 13 contributors is an expert with many years of clinical experience to draw on.The book is down-to-earth and reader-friendly and is structured for maximal utility in both coverage and format: Key Clinical Points cap each chapter, synthesizing and summarizing the knowledge you can take away, and serving both as a refresher for those using the book as a reference and as a study aid to master the material. Both FDA-approved and off-label use of antipsychotic medications are addressed, reflecting the reality of clinical practice on the front lines. Use of antipsychotic medications in both the pediatric and geriatric populations, a potentially controversial subject, is addressed in a nonsensational, straight-forward manner. The Appendixes provide a wealth of information in tabular format, including drug tables (names, strengths, formulations, pharmacokinetics, and dosing); advice on initiating and monitoring antipsychotic medications; common side effects and their management; and special considerations for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The Evidence-Based Guide to Antipsychotic Medications is the first in a new series that strives to take evidence-based psychiatry from gold standard to standard practice. Scientifically up-to-date and rigorous, yet accessible and easy to understand, this volume stands alone as an indispensable resource on the topic.

At last, a clinician’s guidebook to prescription dilemmas. Psychotropic medications prescribed to treat mental disorders have become increasingly commonplace over the past half century, but the decision-making process for doing so continues to lack real clarity. Clinicians and patients alike face new challenges and questions thanks to the increasing availability of these drugs: When is the right time to prescribe something? Can I predict which drug will help this individual? When do I consider changing a medication? How do I assess whether a drug’s side effects make it worthwhile or not? The response to these challenging questions is not to stop medicating altogether. Psychotropic medications are useful clinical tools. But now more than ever we must consider what it means to medicate judiciously. It is time to slow down, pause, maybe even back up a bit, and reconsider how and why various drugs should be prescribed and monitored for success. The goal of this book is to encourage prudent, informed, and appropriate use of psychotropic medications—to encourage use that is respectful and aware of the strengths and limitations of these drugs. By presenting some fundamental principles of pharmacology as they apply to the clinical treatment of patients, and by offering practical, big-picture prescribing recommendations, Psychopharmacology Problem Solving helps to unravel an increasingly complex decision-making process. The first part of the book offers guidelines to keep in mind when working toward making informed choices regarding drug therapy. The second part of the book offers select examples of behavioral problems and psychological disorders—including addiction, obesity, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and ADHD—to illustrate how the principles or recommendations presented in Part I actually play out. The book concludes by considering the persistent problems and challenges that we face in our current and future use of psychotropic medications. Taking a hard look at the extraordinary and increasing trust clinicians, patients, and families of patients place in drug therapy for mental illness, this book gives readers an evidence-based anchor to help them make the right decisions.

Information about new psychotropic drugs, a summary of advances in knowledge about identifiable risk factors for adverse effects, and updated recommendations on viable "antidote" management strategies -- including novel pharmacotherapies for tardive dyskinesia and newer agents for weight loss -- are among the features of this new, second edition of Managing the Side Effects of Psychotropic Medications. Where other psychopharmacology textbooks -- and, indeed, most internships and residencies in psychiatry -- lack a solid basis in primary care medicine, this guide bridges that educational gap, offering a thorough examination of all the effects of taking a psychotropic drug as well practical clinical advice on how to manage complications that arise. The book is divided into three parts: The first deals with global issues that affect the assessment and formulation of possible adverse effects, as well as with pertinent concepts related to basic pharmacology, physiology, and medical monitoring. The second part presents information organized by individual organ systems or specific medical circumstances. The final part focuses on summary recommendations covering all the material presented in the book and is followed by helpful appendixes and self-assessment questions and resources for practitioners. This new edition includes: Updated summaries about what psychiatrists should know regarding drug-drug interactions, iatrogenic cardiac arrhythmias, drug pressor effects and orthostatic hypotension, and drug rashes; as well as updated discussions on avoiding lithium nephrotoxicity, handling adverse effect emergencies, and understanding new FDA classifications about drug safety during pregnancy An expanded discussion on the strengths and limitations of pharmacogenetic testing to predict adverse drug effects, as well as information about new treatments for sexual dysfunction, sleep disturbances, cognitive complaints, and other maladies Revised summary tables to aid rapid assessment and management An expanded section on supplemental resources An updated and expanded self-assessment section with more key questions Busy clinicians will find in Managing the Side Effects of Psychotropic Medications an accessible reference that provides both scientific and scholarly discussion of the consequences of drug therapies they may prescribe (or avoid), the range of available strategies to effectively manage adverse effects, and the scientific and practical implications of their treatment decisions.

Serving as an indispensable resource for students and general-interest readers alike, this three-volume work provides a comprehensive view of mental health that covers both mental well-being and mental illness. A three-volume ready-reference encyclopedia, this up-to-date work supplies a holistic introduction to the fields of mental health and mental disorders that is written specifically for high school students and college students. Covering the full continuum of mental health, the set describes typical functioning, including biology and neurology of the brain, emotions, and the traits and characteristics of mental well-being. It also addresses mental disorders and conditions, from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to phobias and schizophrenia. Mental Health and Mental Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Conditions, Treatments, and Well-Being highlights important concepts and phenomena, key individuals, treatment techniques, organizations, and diagnostic tools to give readers a complete view of this broad field of study. It also investigates all sides of wellness, exploring what it means to be "normal" and consistently identifying the links between lifestyle and mental health. The encyclopedia is consistent with the goals of AP psychology curricula and addresses the various disorders classified in the new edition of the APA Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V-TR).

This bestselling pocket guide to the skills of evidence-basedmedicine succeeds in demystifying the terminology and processes ina handy and easy-to-follow format, all within the space of 100pages. With an improved layout, this second edition ofEvidence-based Medicine Toolkit offers more up-to-dateguidance as well as new sections on important areas ofresearch. New features of this second edition include: A box for each major database showing how to search theevidence, and highlighting the differences between them Flow charts for different study types New critical appraisal sections on qualitative research andeconomic evaluation Expanded list of EBM resources on the net. With these added features to make the job easier, the newToolkit is now an even better companion for all health careprofessionals using evidence-based methodology in their researchand practice.