Abstract

We welcome this pocket-sized book published for the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The authors are experienced clinical psychiatrists with a special interest in psychotropic drugs. The book consists of three sections: an introduction comprising an account of the biological mechanisms of drugs in psychiatry; some short essays on the management of different types of psychiatric illness; and a list of available drugs with indications and side effects. It is full of clinical common sense and appropriate pharmacological background information. It is aimed primarily at the psychiatrist in training, but it will help casualty officers and other hospital staff and general practitioners. Clinical psychologists, nurses, social workers and others who care for the mentally ill should also find it useful.