Prescriptions for the Mind. A Critical View of Contemporary Psychiatry Second Edition

Prescriptions for the Mind has been revised from its first edition in light of new developments in research and practice over the last 15 years. (These updates involve changes of 50% in the text). The book will be a critical assessment of where psychiatry stands today, as a science, and as a method of treatment. While the text acknowledges the triumphs of psychiatry, it takes a critical view of what is known, what is unknown, and what ideas and practices are most likely to stand the test of time. Its conclusions will be rooted in the principles of evidence-based psychiatry. It shows that both drugs and psychotherapy need to be prescribed with their limitations in mind.

The book will combine findings from many disciplines to develop an interactive biopsychosocial model of mental disorders. It will show that a purely biological perspective, as well as a purely psychosocial perspective, can lead to bad treatment choices. Its overall message about mental disorders is to think interactively. These principles are then applied to a wide range of categories of psychopathology (psychoses, mood disorders, PTSD, personality disorders), as well as how they can be applied to the practice of psychiatry, in both pharmacological therapies and psychotherapies.

• Proposes an integrated theory of the origins and treatment of mental disorders that focuses on interactions between biological and psychosocial risk factors
• Includes the most pertinent data supporting the central role of gene-environment interactions in psychiatry
• Explains how narrow theoretical perspectives can interfere with making evidence-based treatment choices
• Offers an interactive biopsychosocial model of mental disorders

CONTENTS

Introduction
Part I: Models
1. Neuroscience and Psychiatry
2. Psychotherapy and Psychiatry
Part II: Diagnosis
3. Diagnosis in Psychiatry
4. The Boundaries of Mental Disorders
5. Mood and Mental Illness
6. Psychiatry’s Problem Children
7. Personality and Personality Disorders
Part III: Treatment
8. Evidence-Based Psychiatry
9. Psychiatric Drugs: Miracles and Limitations
10. Psychotherapies: Methods, Outcomes, and Accessibility
11. The Problem of Suicide
12. Psychiatry in Practice
Part IV: Outlook
13. Training Psychiatrists
14. Psychiatry and Society
15. The Future of Psychiatry
References