The updated edition of this classic book provides the busy clinician, psychiatric resident and medical student with the most up-to-date information on etiology, diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. The reader is provided with contemporary information and literature supported by a close survey of the field. Several new chapters dealing with new concepts in biology and treatment of mental disorders have been added to complete this expanded edition.

Around 760 candidates sit the MRCPsych Part1 each year, with 560 taking Part 2. In the written papers basic sciences and clinical topics are given equal weight - a good knowledge of basic science is therefore essential for success. Since Sciences Basic to Psychiatry was first published in 1992, it has established itself as probably the most successful among the exam-orientated basic science texts. This new edition builds on that success by strengthening coverage in some areas, and by using better illustration to aid comprehension and learning. Features: * Revised in accordance with new exam syllabus * Clear and readable presentation of the core knowledge necessary for exam success * Particularly highly praised for the chapters on the neurosciences, genetics and statistics * Relevant for both Part 1 and Part 2 * Expansion of chapters on psychology and sociology * More illustrations than previous edition

“The landmark book that argued that psychiatry consistently expands its definition of mental illness to impose its authority over moral and cultural conflict.” — New York Times The 50th anniversary edition of the most influential critique of psychiatry every written, with a new preface on the age of Prozac and Ritalin and the rise of designer drugs, plus two bonus essays. Thomas Szasz's classic book revolutionized thinking about the nature of the psychiatric profession and the moral implications of its practices. By diagnosing unwanted behavior as mental illness, psychiatrists, Szasz argues, absolve individuals of responsibility for their actions and instead blame their alleged illness. He also critiques Freudian psychology as a pseudoscience and warns against the dangerous overreach of psychiatry into all aspects of modern life.

An accessible and comprehensive textbook providing an essential foundation in contemporary psychiatry for medical students and trainees.

Four years have passed since the last edition (3rd) of this book was published. In the intervening years, several reviews of this book have provided highly encouraging remarks about the value of this book in transmitting information on classification and treatment of psychiatric disorders to the audience. We are proposing to revise all chapters with an eye on accuracy and ease of use, and this is an especially timely endeavor with the upcoming publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V. All the appropriate new information on biology, etiology, diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders will be added to the current proposed edition. It is our goal to recruit the same authors (if possible) who contributed to the previous edition. While all chapters will be updated (see TOC), those marked by asterisks will be the most likely to undergo more revision. Psychiatry has emerged as a burgeoning scientific field with major advances in etiology and treatment of several disorders. Just as there was excitement in the anatomic advances that took place a hundred years ago when Emil Kraepelin and his collaborators took on the enormous task of classification of psychiatric disorders based on rational scientific thinking, new advances in genetics, biochemistry, neuroanatomy and pharmacotherapy of mental disorders have brought us even closer to a better understanding of complex disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and even autism. The major goal of the previous edition of this classic book was to update the busy clinician, psychiatric resident and medical student with the most up-to-date information on etiology, diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. This goal remains the focus of the fourth edition of this book. In this updated and expanded edition, the reader will be provided with the most contemporary information and literature supported by a close survey of the field. This new edition of this classic title, with its focus on biologic and medical aspects of psychiatry, will continue to be of significant help to all interested in the scientific practice of psychiatry.