The Prescriber's Guide (Essential Psychopharmacology Series)

I am a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. This is the best clinical psychopharmacology reference I have ever used. It provides prescribing details, including recommendations for achieving optimal dosing, FDA approved use and common off label usage, suggestions for augmentation, and alternatives if full remission is not achieved. Side effects are listed, the anticipated time before they fade away, and suggestions for mitigating their unpleasantness when available. The language is easy reading and translates well for client/patient teaching about side effects, both common and serious, drug-drug interactions, and use in special populations, children, pregnant, elderly, and those with impaired kidney and hepatic functions. The text is pleasant on the eye with sections color coded for easy search and it possess a readable font, something often lacking in pharmacological texts. The book itself is a manageable size so it sits comfortable beside my chair without being intrusive. There is also an online version available free for those who are members of the Neuroscience Education Institute (NEI). I highly recommend this reference for all prescribing mental healthcare providers.

This book has a wealth of detail about psychiatric medications including both the mecahnisms of action in the brain, but also the useful side-effects and the likelihood of the different ones, eg weight gain, mental alertness etc. Also the potential problems of combination effects and many other aspects including wash-out times for changing. It very helpfully cross-references the pharmacological name with the current brand names. A small problem for me is that it does not have all the Australian brand names so when this happens I check the web, then add these into the book, but this is only rarely needed.The book gives me confidence in greater awareness of what might be medication-induced side-effects when I am seeing a client and also how to provide more information to them about meds as it appears that they often don't have this. The book is very well laid=out so you can see things quicly without having to wade through reams of text. A very valuable book which I cannot recommend highly enough

Easy to use.

This is a user friendly book in an attractive format. The various categories for each listing (therapeutics, side effects, use and dosing, etc.) are uniquely shaded thereby providing quick access to specific information. The book contains much information in a concise and easy to read format, along with indexes based on drug names, drug categories and drug usage.I am neither a doctor nor a psychologist yet I found this book both informative and easy to understand. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in finding accurate information on the various psychopharmacological medications available.

I'm a psychiatric nurse practitioner, that works at a place that uses mostly 1st generation anit-psychotics, and I don't know much about them. I'm a younger person that's accustomed to the 2nd and 3rd generation anti-psychiotics. When I started working at this facility, I was starting to lose my mind, because I knew nothing about 1st generation drugs. So, I thought, somethings got to give! I used this book before, but sold it after graduation. I remembered that it was very informative on all psychiatric drugs, and I bought it a second time. This book saved me, It's the # 1 go to book when prescribing medications, for my patients. It gives me confident, enabling me to prescribe 1st generation meds. I highly, highly recommend this book for any prescriber, and students too, because it's easy to understand.

I have reached for my copy of Dr. Stahl's Essential Psychopharm Guide nearly every day since beginning my practice in 2005. When the time came to update, I didn't give a thought to looking for a different rersource. I particularly appreciate the dosing strategies, best augmentation practices, and Pearls. The unique, colorful symbols categorizing each drug according to its actions on neurotransmitters are familiar and consistent with my basic psychopharmacology training, when I was fortunate enough to hear Dr. Stahl lecture.

This is a brilliant reference guide for anyone who prescribes psychotropic medication or works with patients who take them (ie, therapists or other physicians). With the proliferation of psychiatric medications and the glut of "package insert" information and internet misinformation this book cuts to the chase with essential clearly presented data about how to prescribe, action of the meds, half life, side effects and drug-drug interactions and great format and visuals.

This is an excellent book for non-medical mental health professionals. It is very user friendly and provides a wealth of important information. It organizes the uses, typical dosages and side effects for both the newer or less common medications; and the most commonly prescribed psychotropics in a very clear and concise format. Easily the best resource for medication issues I have used.