The Essential guide to psychiatric drugs

Tables

Who should use this book and how should it be used?

Acknowledgments

Introduction to the fourth edition

Drug directory

Part 1: Essential Information About Psychiatric Drugs

1: Be an informed consumer!

2: How do I know if I need a psychiatric drug?

3: Psychotherapy, drugs, or both?

4: How do I get psychiatric drugs?

5: What are side effects?

6: How long should I take a psychiatric drug?

Part 2: Psychiatric Drug Reference Guide

7: Drugs used to treat depression

8: Drugs used to treat anxiety

9: Drugs used to treat bipolar mood disorder (manic depression)

10: Drugs used to treat schizophrenia

11: Sleeping pills. 255

12: Drugs used to treat drug abuse

Part 3: Special Topics About Psychiatric Drugs

13: Treating the violent patient

14: Family, environment, and genetics

15: Weight loss and weight gain

16: Sex and psychiatric drugs

17: Treating the elderly

18: Psychiatric drugs and pregnancy

19: AIDS: dealing with psychiatric problems

20: Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

21: Generic versus brand: what's in a name?

22: Can we trust drug companies?

23: How psychiatric drugs work

Final note

Glossary of terms

Suggestions for further reading

Index.

Tables

1: Warning signs that a psychiatric drug May be needed

2: Guidelines for getting psychiatric drugs

3: How long to stay on psychiatric drugs

4: Are psychiatric drugs habit-forming?

5: Some terms used to classify depression

6: Features of different forms of depression

7: Suggested treatment plan for major depression

8: Suggested treatment plan for bipolar depression

9: Suggested treatment plan for psychotic depression

10: Suggested treatment plan for atypical depression

11: Suggested treatment for dysthymia

12: Checklist for antidepressants

13: Common side effects of cyclic antidepressants

14: Food and drugs to avoid while taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors

15: What to do if you have a headache while on monoamine oxidase inhibitors

16: What illnesses do the newer antidepressants treat?

17: Reasons to administer electroconvulsive therapy to the patient with major depression

18: Symptoms of withdrawal from benzodiazepines

19: Long- and short-acting benzodiazepines

20: Features of panic disorder

21: Treatment of panic disorder

22: MAOIs and social phobia

23: Drug treatment of the anxiety disorders

24: Treating the bipolar patient

25: Order in which drugs are prescribed for maintenance treatment of bipolar patients

26: Drugs used to counteract the side effects of antipsychotics

27: Atypical antipsychotic drugs

28: Ten causes of insomnia

29: Before you take sleeping pills for insomnia

30: Reasons to take sleeping pills

31: Drugs for insomnia

32: Drugs used to treat drug abuse

33: Psychiatric drugs that do not cause weight gain

34: Sexual side effects of psychiatric drugs

35: Some drugs that are comparatively safe for elderly patients

36: Some recommended psychiatric drugs for patients with HIV or AIDS.