Case Studies in Psychopharmacology: The Use of Drugs in Psychiatry, 2nd ed

I am not really a fan of case-based learning, but I did enjoy this book. The authors present the information with an opening case followed by a question-and-answer style discussion, concluding summary points, and references with each issue-based chapter. I found the question-and-answer style text easy to read and practical as well as comprehensive enough to cover the subject without being too long and drawn out. The book was penned by obviously very knowledgeable pharmacists from the United Kingdom. Therefore, they discuss the use of some medications that are not available in the United States. There is the rare reference to “best use of the UK medical system,” but not enough to be distracting. I found the advice to be concise and practical. The discussions are well founded in the scientific literature, and the authors always point out when they had to use experience or limited science to provide guidance in therapy. This book is strictly about pharmacologic treatment and does not stray into biosociomedical theory of causation or psychotherapy. There is some mention of psychotherapy where appropriate, but no attempt is made to discuss the details, which is consistent with the title and goal of the text. In a nutshell, I think this book would be very useful for those who take care of patients who have complicated mental health disorders. I do not think that most primary care physicians would find the types of patients discussed in the text in their practices. While well written, I believe this book is for the small audience of psychopharmacologists and not the general population of physicians.