An invaluable guide to psychiatric presentation, diagnosis and treatment in a primary care setting.

This is the second edition of this book, massively expanded from the first edition that was published in 2014.Side effects are not a side issue! Adverse effects or side effects are of the greatest importance because they cause considerable suffering and are the leading cause of nonadherence to medications. That is why side effects can be called "The Other Side of Suffering" or "The Other Half of Psychopharmacology." More attention needs to be paid to preventing side effects, developing strategies to systematically assess these side effects, and for managing them. This book focuses on some of the commonest side effects of psychiatric medications and is jam-packed with highly clinically useful, practical information to help deal with them. The numerous practical strategies described will be useful to both the beginner and to the experienced clinician. The book will appeal to psychiatrists, other physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, etc. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. General principles: What's the big deal? Knowledge is power. Sensitive to medications. 2. Blood: Bleeding 3. Blood pressure: Dizziness (Orthostatic hypotension). 4. Ears: Tinnitus. 5. Electrolytes: Hyponatremia. Metabolic acidosis. 6. Endocrine glands: Diabetes Insipidus (see Polyuria/Diabetes insipidus). Hyperparathyroidism. Hyperprolactinemia. Thyroid dysfunction. 7. Eyes: Blurred vision. Glaucoma. 8. Gastrointestinal tract; Constipation. Diarrhea. Loss of appetite (Anorexia). Nausea. Pancreatitis. .9. Genitals/Sexuality: Sexual dysfunction. 10. Heart: Myocarditis. QT prolongation and other ECG changes. 11. Blood sugar: Hyperglycemia. 12. Kidneys: Kidney stones. Polyuria/ Diabetes Insipidus. 13. Liver: Hyperammonemia (elevated serom ammonia level). 14. Mouth: Bruxism . Dry mouth (Xerostomia). Hypersalivation (Sialorrhea). 15. Nervous system: Akathisia. Headache. Insomnia (See Sleep). Parkinsonism. Seizures. Tardive dyskinesia . Tremors. 16. Skin: Acne. Excessive sweating (Hyperhidrosis). Hair loss (Alopecia.) Skin reactions. 17. Sleep: Insomnia. 18. Weight: Weight gain. Weight loss (see Loss of Appetite). 19. Other side effects: Antidepressant discontinuation (withdrawal). Edema.

"This book has been divided into three main sections. Part I deals with global issues that bear on the assessment and formulation of possible adverse effects and with pertinent concepts related to basic pharmacology, physiology, and medical monitoring. The chapters in Part II present information organized by individual organ systems or specific medical circumstances rather than by drugs or drug classes. This approach seems to provide a logical and comprehensible format that allow readers to search out information as referenced by a particular side effect (and its varied potential causes) and to locate a discussion of practical management strategies. Part III focuses on summary recommendations covering all the material presented in the book and is followed by helpful appendixes on self-assessment questions and resources for practitioners. The book is meant to serve as a ready reference that simultaneously provides scientific and scholarly discussion of available treatment options and presents their scientific rationales."--page xx.

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.

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The explosive story of the discovery and development of psychiatric medications, as well as the science and the people behind their invention, told by a riveting writer and psychologist who shares her own experience with the highs and lows of psychiatric drugs. Although one in five Americans now takes at least one psychotropic drug, the fact remains that nearly seventy years after doctors first began prescribing them, not even their creators understand exactly how or why these drugs work -- or don't work -- on what ails our brains. Lauren Slater's revelatory account charts psychiatry's journey from its earliest drugs, Thorazine and lithium, up through Prozac and other major antidepressants of the present. Blue Dreams also chronicles experimental treatments involving Ecstasy, magic mushrooms, the most cutting-edge memory drugs, placebos, and even neural implants. In her thorough analysis of each treatment, Slater asks three fundamental questions: how was the drug born, how does it work (or fail to work), and what does it reveal about the ailments it is meant to treat? Fearlessly weaving her own intimate experiences into comprehensive and wide-ranging research, Slater narrates a personal history of psychiatry itself. In the process, her powerful and groundbreaking exploration casts modern psychiatry's ubiquitous wonder drugs in a new light, revealing their ability to heal us or hurt us, and proving an indispensable resource not only for those with a psychotropic prescription but for anyone who hopes to understand the limits of what we know about the human brain and the possibilities for future treatments.

This practical reference examines the advantages and disadvantages of polypharmacy in psychiatry, and provides up-to-date clinical guidelines on the appropriate use of combinations of pharmacological therapy in major psychiatric disorders-including multidisciplinary approaches to treatment, such as social work and psychopharmacology, and an examina