Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific Basis and Practical Applications by Stephen M. Stahl, S. M. Stahl, Nancy Muntner (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology is intended as a primer text for this field, and can be read cover to cover by anyone from the novice to the expert. Expanded and fully revised, this third edition enlists advances in neurobiology and recent clinical developments to explain with renewed clarity the concepts underlying drug treatment of psychiatric disorders. Features of this edition are clinical advances in antipsychotic and antidepressant therapy. It includes new coverage of sleep disorders, chronic pain, and disorders of impulse control. This remains the essential text for students, scientists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals.

Nishad J. Nadkarni

The author of this magnificent work takes a pedagogical, highly understandable approach to the area of psychopharmacology—from the level of basic biochemistry and receptor action through practical clinical applications of all major classes of psychotropic compounds. This text is written with the ambitious goal of making the complicated field of psychopharmacology accessible, on both the theoretical and ""everyday"" levels, to the practicing clinician. Towards this goal the author succeeds admirably. The author seeks to reach the audience of prescribing mental health professionals with a medical background who seek a basic and clinical level understanding of the medications that they recommend to their patients. Numerous unique features contribute to the author's goal. First, the liberal use of highly schematic color diagrams in each chapter adds to understanding of such concepts as receptor action, timing of drug effects and clinical outcomes. These diagrams are structured in what initially appears to be an oversimplified, ""cartoon"" form. However, upon further examination it is apparent these illustrations are highly effective in elucidating highly complex material. As well, a pure pedagogical approach with questions and answers at the end allows readers to test themselves on the material presented to ensure maximal retention of key concepts. Finally, while not written at the highly advanced level of the ""bench"" researcher in psychopharmacology, as clearly explained by the author, this text nevertheless is the basis of further inquiry since the author includes a fairly complete bibliography for further reading. This book is a bedrock for basic understanding of the complexand fast moving field of psychopharmacology, and should be a part of every prescribing clinician's library. It is highly recommended and will be useful in many contexts.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Raj Tummala, MD (Wyeth Pharmaceuticals)
Description:This is the updated edition of a popular, reader friendly book on the fundamentals of psychopharmacology.
Purpose:The purpose is to provide an easy to understand book on the fundamentals of basic and clinical psychopharmacology.
Audience:It is targeted at anyone dealing with psychotropics/psychiatric medicine such as students, residents, clinicians, nursing staff, and psychopharmacologists.
Features:Completely revised and updated with the latest developments, this edition captures the shift from the receptor model to brain circuits and signal transduction cascades. The basic sciences section has been doubled to cover the advances in the understanding of the functioning of neurons, signal transduction cascades, ion channels, genetics, brain circuits, imaging, and disease models of pathophysiology. The clinical section has been expanded from the previous edition to discuss the psychiatric disorder and the corresponding malfunctioning brain circuit. This section also details the advances in the latest hypothesis of the disorder as well as the latest drugs related to the treatment of the disorder. New to this edition is a chapter on pain and the treatment of fibromyalgia and other somatic syndromes. Separate chapters now cover dementia and attention deficit disorders with the newest treatments as well as drugs that are in the pipeline. Of special note is the chapter on reward that has been expanded from substance abuse to cover disorders of sexual function, eating, and impulsivity. Unique to Dr. Stahl's books are the illustrations, which have been expanded inthis edition to reflect the latest advances. Information is presented in conceptual form that makes it easier to read and understand. The book maintains a consistent format and is augmented with more graphs and tables.
Assessment:Dr. Stahl's latest edition remains the clearest book covering all the latest advances and developments in psychopharmacology. The method of teaching through illustration and conceptual form should continue to make it very popular.

Rating

4 Stars! from Doody

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents