Depression Symptoms Treatment
Archive for the ‘Book review’ Category
Living and Working with Schizophrenia, 2nd ed.
J.J. Jeffries, E. Plummer, M.V. Seeman and J.F. Thornton. 148 pp.
University of Toronto Press, Toronto. 1990
ISBN 0-8020-6781 -6
This is a short, informative manual written for schizophrenic patients and their relatives, friends, employers and teachers. The authors are based in Toronto, so the material presented is especially relevant to the Canadian scene.
The authors have shrewdly gleaned major issues of concern from their own clinical experience. Some of the issues are academic; for example, what is the risk of passing schizophrenia to an offspring? Others are more mundane but equally important; for example, which team member should the family contact when a patient is admitted to hospital? The chapter on inpatient treatment is particularly useful. It walks the reader through the admission process, describing in detail the roles of the various professionals the patient is likely to encounter and the nature of tests and other common procedures. Also outstanding is the chapter outlining how the family can help. This chapter addresses such thorny Read more [...]
Ronald M. Doctor and Ada P. Kahn. 487 pp. Illust
Facts on File, New York, 1989
ISBN 0-8160-1798-0
Have you ever wondered what aichurophobia is and been distracted by descriptions of ailurophobia (fear of cats) and aichmophobia (fear of pointed objects)? These subjects, as well akathisia and the fear of air pollution, are on one page of this encyclopedia.
The book has more than 2500 entries, and some of the research is extensive. This is both its strength and its weakness. Many of the entries are simply brief definitions, like those found in a dictionary or glossary, that do not provide the information one would expect in an encyclopedia. The inclusion of numerous archaic terms for individual phobias is justified by reason of historical interest; however, progress in the understanding of anxiety occurred after the old labels were abandoned and more meaningful classifications devised. Historians might have been interested in the roots of these words, but they are not provided.
There is a page on Shakespeare as a psychologist who grappled with the power of fear and anxiety in his writings. He grasped Read more [...]
Handbook of Essential Psychopharmacology
Pies RW
Washington: American Psychiatric Press; 1998. 416 pp. with index
ISBN 0-88048-765-8
This concise, slim, well-edited paperback review of essential psychopharmacology is divided into 4 chapters, on antidepressants, anti-psychotics, anxiolytics and sedative-hypnotics, and mood stabilizers, including novel anticonvulsants. Each chapter begins with an overview that includes drug class indications, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, common side effects, drug interactions, augmentation strategies, and use in special populations, such as pregnant women, the elderly, and develop-mentally disabled patients. Each chapter ends with a series of well-selected, clinically relevant questions, along with answers and a case discussion that illustrate and clarify various teaching points.
The chapter on antidepressants is a general review of the literature in that area. I often hear residents expressing their concern about the inability to keep up with the number of new antidepressants being introduced into our pharmacopoeia. It is also not uncommon Read more [...]
Ingram RE, Miranda J, Segal ZV
New York: The Guilford Press; 1998. 330 pp with index
ISBN 1-57230-304-2 (cloth)
What does it mean to be vulnerable to a mental disorder such as major depression? While 20% of women and 12% of men can provide first-hand knowledge about this ubiquitous disorder, it may be assumed that even more people are vulnerable to depression. Treatments, whether psychopharmacological or psychotherapeutic, may be effective; however, the challenge to the field is to identify individuals who may need more than a universal intervention (e.g., building children's self-esteem) to prevent episodes and the recurrence of episodes. Ingram and colleagues have set out to define and review this area from a fundamentally psychological perspective, while being mindful of other factors (e.g., genetic, neurochemical, social / interpersonal, economic and political).
Cognitive vulnerability refers to "an internal and stable feature of the person that predisposes him or her to the development of psycho-pathology under specified conditions such as the occurrence of stressful life Read more [...]
Carvey PM
Oxford (UK): Oxford University Press; 1997
ISBN 0-19509-334-8
Understanding the pharmacodynamics, or actions, of drugs is essential in central nervous system (CNS) research. Much of what we understand about the biological mind is the result of examining the effects of drugs on human functioning. This book by Dr. Paul M. Carvey, a well-respected professor of neuropsychopharmacology, is a very concise, easy-to-read textbook that reviews brain and receptor functioning and the effects of different drugs that act on the CNS. The book is well designed, starting with a general review of functioning and then focusing on different types of CNS clinical problems. It includes chapters on opioid analgesics, antidepressants, anxiolytics and antipsychotics, the treatment of headaches and movement disorders, and drugs of addiction and abuse. The style is clear and succinct, making good use of lists and diagrams. The diagrams, although in black and white, are effective in explaining many of the complex relations between drugs and the brain.
The first chapter is an introduction to pharmacology, explaining Read more [...]
Psychotropic Drug Handbook, 7th Edition
Perry PJ, Alexander B, Liskow BI
Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1997. 740 pp with index
ISBN 0-88048-851-4 (paper)
The 7th edition of this book is a revision of the 6th, which was published in 1991. The authors have updated references on all drugs and have included information on a number of new products, including olanzapine, risperidone, sertindole, venlafaxine, mitazapine, zolpidem and nicotine patches.
The Psychotropic Drug Handbook covers the expected topics. There are chapters on antipsychotics, antidepressants, antimanics, anxiolytics, hypnotics, agents for treating extrapyramidal side effects and drug treatment of substance dependence. Each of these chapters contains a section on specific medications (or class of medication) organized into the following categories: indications; efficacy (for each illness that has been studied); mechanism of action; dosage; pharmacokinetics (including dosage adjustments in hepatic/renal impairment); adverse effects (including effects in pregnancy) and rational prescribing (a list of 3 to 12 key points Read more [...]
Akiskal HS, Cassano GB (editors)
New York: The Guilford Press; 1997. 228 pp with index
ISBN 1-57230-089-2 (cloth)
This is a very good book about a difficult subject. Akiskal and Cassano, both internationally renowned for their own research in this area, have compiled works from just about all of the prominent experts in research on chronic depression and dysthymia. While some chapters are more conclusive then others, this book provides a robust list of scientific literature that has been, for the most part, succinctly reviewed and interpreted.
Dysthymia is a difficult condition to study because of its chronicity, subsyndromal characteristics and lack of representation in most epidemiological research. Initially, the chronic depressive complaints common in dysthymia were classified as character disorders; as such, they were cause for a lifetime of untreated impairment in quality of life for most sufferers. Only in the past few decades has the condition been defined and placed under the spectrum of mood disorders, particularly because of research that has identified the presence of the disorder Read more [...]
The Encyclopedia of Depression.
Roberta Roesch.
263 pp.
Facts on File, New York. 1991.
ISBN 0-8160-1936-3
Those who work in mental health areas know the vast scope of multidisciplinary information and resource material on depression. The Encyclopedia of Depression is quite remarkable, encompassing entries ranging from Dostoevski to Prozac and food to funerals. The book is very accessible and will appeal to interested individuals in the world's oldest professions and youngest interest groups. For people suffering from mood disorders it provides useful basic information on treatment strategies such as diet, aerobic exercise, psychotherapy, drug therapy and electroconvulsive shock. There is good cross-referencing, and many of the entries have references for further exploration.
The book will be invaluable to members of the public who wish to know more about depression. As well, because of its scope, health professionals will find the book useful for themselves and for easily accessing important and interesting capsules of information for their patients and colleagues. In browsing through the Read more [...]
Ask the Doctor: Depression
Vincent Friedewald
Andrews McMeel Publishing, Kansas City. 1998. 114 pp. Illust.
ISBN 0-8362-2711-5
Overall rating: Very good
Strengths: Complete, well written, organized, comfortable style
Weaknesses: Requires high school education level to read
Audience: Patients and families
This book was written to provide just enough information about the common and important condition of depression to a sophisticated lay audience. It achieves that goal in a comfortable, readable format at reasonable cost.
The information provided is much more complete and helpful than any brochures I've seen. Its style is friendly and logical and should encourage healthy behaviour in patients who would benefit from more information than most physicians have time to provide.
Questions at the end of each chapter review important facts, ask patients about their personal experiences and encourage discussion with their doctor. This suggests effective action; however, I would like to see research regarding the actual effects before deciding its value.
The book avoids becoming a competing authority. Read more [...]
Handbook of Depression. Second Edition
EE Beckham, WR Leber, editors
New York: Guilford Press; 1995. 628 p
This multiauthor book is edited by E Edward Beckham, PhD, and William R Leber, PhD, both associate professors in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Oklahoma University. Its 628 pages contain 5 sections and 2 appendices: 1) Defining the Boundaries of Depression (epidemiology, diagnostic classification, assessment of severity and symptom patterns, and relations to other Axis I, Axis II, and Axis III disorders); 2) Biological Processes and Treatments (genetics, biological processes, somatic therapies including drugs, and medical diagnostic procedures); 3) Psychological Therapies (cognitive, behavior, interpersonal, analytic, couple and family, integration, and comparing and combining psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy); 4) Special Populations (children and adolescents, geriatrics, people at risk for suicide, women); and 5) Psychological and Social Contexts (life context and coping processes). The appendices provide information on rating scales available for assessment of Read more [...]