Introductory Textbook of Psychiatry

In addition to exciting new findings about specific psychiatric disorders and new case vignettes, illustrations, and tables, the authors include expanded chapters on the psychiatric aspects of AIDS, reflecting the exponential increase in knowledge about this still-unchecked worldwide epidemic, and on somatic treatments, reflecting the burgeoning knowledge about new drug treatments, particularly antidepressants.

The authors have also added the Beck Depression Inventory-a self-report patient questionnaire to help the clinician obtain an objective measure of the patient's condition-to their helpful appendix of diagnostic scales andmeasurements now being integrated into routine clinical care. For example, the MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination, which assesses cognitive functioning) has become such an important assessment tool that students learning about cognitive disorders need to be familiar with it.

An added bonus to this third edition is the authors' thoughtful inclusion of model curriculum recommendations for students and psychiatry clerkship directors.

Popular among an increasing number of professors, the scope of this user-friendly textbook is sufficiently broad to satisfy students (specifically, third- and fourth-year medical students rotating through psychiatry and first- and second-year residents) who wish to gain a wide exposure to psychiatry. This highly readable, comprehensive reference will also find a wide audience among clinicians in private practice, social workers, nursing students, physician's assistants, and laypersons interested in learning more about psychiatric illnesses.