Prescribing mental health medication : the practitioner's guide

1.General principles of medication management 2.Medication myths, truths and likely patient questions 3.The initial prescriptive interview 4.Helping a patient decide to try medication 5.Starting medication 6.Follow-up appointments and strategies 7.Medication, psychotherapy and "What else helps?" 8.Stopping medication 9.The long-term patient 10.Benzodiazepines and stimulants - useful, but controversial 11."Natural" substances - do they help? 12.Using medication with children and adolescents 13.Pregnancy and psychotropics -- rewards and risks 14.Prescribing psychotropics for older patients 15.Medication of sleep problems 16.Alcohol, tobacco, recreational drugs and psychotropic medication 17.The confused and cognitively impaired patient - medication pitfalls 18.Inattention and hyperactivity -- ADHD and stimulants 19.Side effects of psychotropic medications and their treatment 20.Danger zones - areas of risk with psychotropics 21.Medication allergies 22.Misuse of medication -- taking too much and taking too little 23."Difficult" medication patients and how to treat them 24.Prescription writing and record keeping 25. Blood levels of psychotropics 26.Generic medications 27.The digital prescriber 28.The prescriber and the telephone -- mainstay and millstone 29.The pharmacist, the pharmaceutical industry and the clinician 30.Preparing an office for mental health prescribing 31.The way forward

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.

BL