PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE ED - , TI - The use of drugs in psychiatry AID - 10.1136/dtb.17.6.24-a DP - 1979 Mar 16 TA - Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin PG - 24--24 VI - 17 IP - 6 4099 - http://dtb.bmj.com/content/17/6/24.2.short 4100 - http://dtb.bmj.com/content/17/6/24.2.full SO - Drug Ther Bull1979 Mar 16; 17 AB - J. Crammer, B. Barraclough and B. Heine, Gaskell Books, 1978, pp. 230. £3.95 (£2.95 for fellows, members and associates of the Royal College of Psychiatrists) Available from Headley Brothers Ltd, Ashford, Kent TN24 8HH. 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.