Synopsis
Essential Psychopharmacology explains the neurobiological concepts underlying the drug treatment of psychiatric disorders, with particular emphasis on the principles of chemical neurotransmission. For the student learning psychopharmacology for the first time, this book provides an easily readable introduction to the subject. For the physician or scientist with prior background in the field, the book is organised to provide a quick review of the key dimensions of psychopharmacology and the drug treatment of mental illness. The clearly written text is supplemented by a wealth of high-quality colour graphics that are both instructive and entertaining. These illustrations and their captions may be used independently of the main text for a rapid introduction to the field, or for review. Covering both the neurobiology of drug action, and the range of psychiatric disorders and their treatments, this book will indeed be an essential text for students, scientists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals.
Review
'... graced by an especially abundant amount of imaginative and visually appealing graphics that are most helpful in grasping basic concepts ... an unusual strategy for teaching and it works quite well in my estimation ... The text of this book reads extremely well. It has the feel of having been taped from live lectures in its informality ... not at the expense of accurate description however ... It makes retention of the material covered much easier than in a convential text.' Herbert Y. Meltzer, Trends in Neuroscience
'The author and Nancy Muntner (who drew the figures) should be commended for providing clear and comprehensible pictorial representations of complex phenomena in clinical psychopharmacology ... Stahl and Muntner's ability is astonishing: one could grasp the essential parts of the book simply by reviewing the color graphics and their legends ... This book should become a required reading for teaching psychopharmacology ... the seasoned psychiatrist may benefit from this book, particularly as a guide to drug selection and understanding. I found Stahl's book of tremendous help as a teacher and I am sure that my enthusiasm will be shared by anyone using it with this purpose.' G. A. Fava, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
'... essential reading for those who mistakenly believe that psychopharmacology consists of worthy but tedious clinical trials of highly derivative agents ... the book also provides an excellent and comprehensive account of the pharmacology of the drugs currently used to treat psychiatric disorders, including less commonly covered topics such as cognitive disorders and substance abuse ... I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who works with psychotropic drugs - or who has the task of teaching others about them!' P. J. Cowen, Psychological Medicine
'... the readable text and simple and often whimsical diagrams will provide a sound understanding of the fundamentals of basic and applied psychopharmacology.' Lucinda Scott, Cephalagia
'... the illustrations are amusing, witty, even endearing ... For teaching the basics of psychopharmacology ... this book has no rivals among existing texts.' Heather Ashton, The British Journal of Psychiatry
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