Prescribing Mental Health Medication: The Practitioner's Guide

Prescribing Mental Health Medication is a comprehensive text for all practitioners who treat mental disorders with medication. This new (third) edition is fully updated and includes a variety of additional chapters.

Prescribing Mental Health Medication covers the latest digital methodologies including Internet-based mental health treatment, electronic medical records and prescriber use of social media. Including information on all psychotropic medications in use in the United States and the United Kingdom, the book incorporates clinical tips, sample dialogues for talking about mental health medications to patients, and information specifically relevant in primary care settings. It looks at:

• how to determine if medication is needed, proper dosing and how to start, stop and change medication

• specific mental health symptoms and appropriate medication

• special populations including non-adherent patients, medication abusers, those mixing alcohol and psychotropics, confused patients, children, adolescents, pregnant women and seniors

• management of medication side effects and avoidance of medication risk

• prescription of generic preparations

• organizing a prescriptive office and record keeping.

The additional chapters in this new edition of Prescribing Mental Health Medication cover topics such as combining specific medications, combining medications and psychological therapies, use of 'natural' substances in mental health treatment, successfully managing patient relapse, and appropriate prescriptions of potentially controversial medications such as stimulants and benzodiazepines.

This practical text explains the entire process of medication assessment, management and follow up for general medical practitioners, mental health practitioners, students, residents, prescribing nurses and others perfecting this skill.

Christopher M. Doran MD is a Psychiatrist and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He has been a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Nursing, USA.