Non-pharmacological somatic treatments 6.2.10.1 Electroconvulsive therapy Max Fink Introduction Convulsive therapy (ECT or electroshock) is an effective treatment for those with severe and persistent emotional disorders. It is safe for…
Complementary medicines Ursula Werneke Complementary medicines pose a particular challenge to medical practitioners who may feel that their patients need conventional treatment but often find themselves out of their depth…
Drugs used in the treatment of the addictions Fergus D. Law David J. Nutt Medical treatment of the addictions remains controversial, with addiction itself viewed as a lifestyle problem, a…
Drugs for cognitive disorders Leslie Iversen Introduction Cognitive disorders are among the most difficult of all nervous system illnesses to treat as they affect the most complex and least clearly…
Antiepileptic drugs Brian P. Brennan Harrison G. Pope Jr. Introduction Several drugs originally developed to treat epilepsy have been found effective in certain psychiatric disorders. This chapter reviews the antiepileptic…
Antipsychotic and anticholinergic drugs Herbert Y. Meltzer William V. Bobo Introduction The discovery by Delay and Denicker in 1953 that chlorpromazine was highly effective in alleviating delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized…
Lithium and related mood stabilizers Robert M. Post Introduction Global categorization of the mood stabilizers Lithium is the paradigmatic mood stabilizer. It is effective in the acute and prophylactic treatment…
Antidepressants Zubin Bhagwagar George R. Heninger Introduction Major depressive disorder is a serious, recurrent illness which levies a crippling toll on individuals, families, and society in general. The importance of…
Anxiolytics and hypnotics Malcolm Lader Introduction Anxiety is a commonly experienced emotion that becomes a clinical disorder when it is too severe, too protracted, or too pervasive for the subject…
General principles of drug therapy in psychiatry J. K. Aronson The successful use of psychotropic drugs demands an understanding of their pharmaceutical, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic properties. ♦ Pharmaceutical properties: Pharmaceutical…
