Clinical Psychopharmacology Made Ridiculously Simple

by John D. Preston, James Johnson

Alliant International Univ., Sacramento, CA. Pocket-sized text provides an overview of clinical psychopharmacology. Surveys psychotropic medications focusing on diagnostic findings. Discusses medications for depression, bipolar illness, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, and cites real-life case examples. Previous c2003. Softcover.


Current edition is a 2011 update (i.e. copyright 2011
Thanks...John Preston...author

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Counselling, Reference, Medicine, Textbooks, Social Work

79 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1990

About the author

John Preston, PsyD, is a board certified psychologist and the author of ten books including Survivors, You Can Beat Depression, Integrative Brief Therapy, and Life is Hard (audio). He is on the faculty of Alliant University and the University of California, Davis, Medical School. He is the recipient of the Mental Health Association's President's Award for contributions to the mental health community. Dr. Preston has lectured widely in North America and abroad. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reviews

[Julie]

Required for Case Management class. Useful reference book. Clear and concise information.

[Sarah Maybury]

Highly recommend for concise information and treatment specifically in family medicine primary care.

[Alex]

A cool, quick read for med students interested in psychiatry. Written clearly with a nice, no-nonsense review of some basic prescribing strategies and useful clinical tips including stepwise consideration of how to alter treatment depending on the pt’s response to medication. Has a great table organizing antidepressants by their receptor affinity profiles. Certain tips like prescribing low-dose benzos for activation sx the first few weeks of SSRI therapy and prescribing T3 for euthyroid TRD patients seem like nifty things to keep in one’s back pocket, but I’m not sure if they’re currently supported. At the time of publishing, gabapentin was also not routinely prescribed for anxiety, which seems to be much more common now with benzo panic. An update is definitely in order, and one covering a broader range of psychopathology would be awesome. Overall, I wish more medical texts like this were available for budding psychiatrists. Med students rarely have exposure to outpatient psychiatry, and a book full of case studies like the few featured here would be like a goldmine.

[Laura]

I read this for continuing education credits and found it a very helpful little book. It does, indeed, make psychopharmacology very easy. It covers, briefly, major psychological diagnoses and then goes through the recommendations for medication. It does not cover the mechanism of action in detail, which prevents it from being excessively long or complicated. The information provided is pretty much out of the scope of my practice (RN), but I did find it helpful for a basic overall understanding of how disorders are treated. If nothing else, it will be helpful for me as a nurse when interacting with patients who I have a current medication list for but who are not forthcoming with their medical history.

[Heidi Goehmann]

Super useful desk reference about various diagnoses, pharmacology treatment options, side effects, and important conversations with clients for each. I also enjoyed the brief but meaningful information regarding the way each pharm works in the brain/body.
Would love to see a bit more on complimentary treatment for each diagnoses, but I think that is beyond the scope presented for this particular text.

[Analie]

Such a good resource! This book claims to be ridiculously simple AND it delivers. No need to grab an enormous medical tome and surf the index; with this book one can find the key points of medication treatment for the major disorders at a glance.

[Amy]

Nice review/update. Very condensed.

[Tania Bradkin]

highly recommend. quick and ridiculously simple. a great reference to have on hand.

[J]

This was a solid introduction to the psychopharmacological approach to treatment for mental health conditions. This provides great insights for non-medically-trained mental health clinicians to better understand the treatment process from the eyes of a prescribing physician. The book has helpful tables describing common medications, their dosages, their purposes, and their side-effects. I like how the book is broken up by sections based on major disorders in the DSM. A must-read for beginner therapists.

[Vicky]

Very helpful book that relates very well to my nursing practice. Laid out different mental health problems with treatment outlines. I better understand why the doctors I work with choose certain medications to treat the different conditions. Improved my knowledge base a lot. Really good listing of newer medications as well. This book is a keeper on my shelf and will be well used. It is also nice to get continuing education credits for my license as well. I read and re-read it so the information would stick in my brain.

[elm]

Delightfully practical and simplistic guide to various medications, their active neurotransmitters impacted, and considerations for negative side effects and how to adjust meds to relieve them. Easy terminology for someone without a medical degree or post-bachelor’s study in clinical psychology (though probably complex for a casual reader of pop psychology books.)

[Morgan Blackledge]

Very useful desk reference.

Not available in e-book form.

:-(

[Connie]

Edition 8. Easy to read and gives the basics needed, as well as some helpful guides and checklists. Additional resources are also provided within the text.

[Jacob]

uhh yeah super informational for clinical settings :)

[H. C.]

Excellent to help establish more than a cursory knowledge of psychopharmacology.

[Annelise]

It's hard to imagine that something so complicated could be made so simple, but for the purposes of someone who doesn't need more than a basic knowledge, it does a great job

[Emmy]

Fast read. Lovely for a med student. Somewhat outdated but still very helpful.

[Corrine]

Very thorough and helpful short book as to treatment through medication for a variety of mental health conditions

[Shannon Dunne]

Informative on the basics of psychopharmacology!

[Kate Sturdevant]

Clear and concise, going to be a useful reference

[Shermyn Swanson]

Super dense, but short. I feel more prepared for the task of working with patients in concurrent medication treatment now that i have read this.

[Angie]

This is a good short book for non prescribers.

[Finnley]

4⭐️

[Elizabeth Furstenau]

The book was a good, shortened version of a textbook. It explained the clinical side of psychopharmacology in an easy-to-read way. I liked that the book included graphs and charts to visualize what they said in the text. I also liked that at the end, they added examples of different cases of mental illnesses, where you acted as the therapist prescribing each medication. I was not a fan of the organization of it. Instead of finishing paragraphs, the charts would interrupt, confusing where to read on. The main motif of the book was to simplify complex pharmacological materials and information for students or those learning about pharmaceuticals. I will most likely not read this again, but it is a good source of information.

[Nathan Huyser]

A well put-together, concise look into the treatment of psychiatric disorders with psychotropic medications. I think it’s a great resource for doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and therapists.

I, however, am none of those occupations. I am a patient, who suffers from severe depression and anxiety. I’ve been battling these illnesses for over 12 years. I find mental illness horrifying and terrifying, yet immensely interesting. It’s amazing that we can alter one’s mind through medical treatments. I found this book to be helpful in my own health journey. It gives me a better understanding of how practitioners think and also possible questions I can ask of my psychiatrist and therapist in the future.

Does not take long to read!

[Dr. Jacqueline Woods]

This book was required reading for a course. It was not a hard read

[Jen Bergeron]

Helpful for the wards (managing meds), not really for the shelf.

[Mark]

Exactly what you wanted.