Psychotic Disorders: A Practical Guide

by Oliver Freudenreich

Overview

This book provides clear and concise guidance for clinicians when they encounter a patient with psychosis, starting with the medical work-up to arrive at a diagnosis and ending with the comprehensive care for patients with established schizophrenia.  It covers the optimal use of medications (emphasizing safe use) but also addresses other treatment approaches (psychological treatments, rehabilitation) and the larger societal context of care, including how to work effectively in complex systems. It uniquely condenses the literature into teaching points without simplifying too much, effectively serving as a learning tool for trainees and professionals.  For this second edition, the book was extensively updated and its content expanded, with new figures as well.  Each chapter begins with an initial summary and includes Tips and Key Points in text boxes.  Each chapter also includes links to external websites and additional readings.  The book contains clinical and practical wisdom for clinicians who are treating real patients at the front lines, setting it apart from all other texts.

 

Psychotic Disorders is an excellent resource for medical students, early career professionals such as trainees and fellows, and related clinicians seeking additional training and resources, including those in psychiatry, psychology, neurology, and all others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030294502
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	12/04/2019
Series:	Current Clinical Psychiatry
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	813,731
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Oliver Freudenreich, MD, FACLP
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School
Co-Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Schizophrenia Clinical and Research Program
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts

Table of Contents

Psychotic signs and symptoms.- Psychosis interview.- Delirium.- Drug-induced psychosis.- Secondary schizophrenia.- Psychiatric differential diagnosis of psychosis.- Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.- Diagnosing schizophrenia – clinical approach.- Emergency management of acute psychosis.- Phase-specific treatment of schizophrenia.- Antipsychotics – overview.- Antipsychotics – motor side effects.- Antipsychotics – non-motor side effects.- Antipsychotics – clinical effectiveness.- Ancillary medications.- Drug interactions.- Polypharmacy.- Psychological treatments – the patient.- Psychological treatments – the family.- Psychiatric rehabilitation.- Medical morbidity and mortality.- HIV/AIDS and serious mental illness.- Dual diagnosis.- Nicotine dependence.- Refractory psychosis and clozapine.- Negative symptoms.- Cognition in schizophrenia.- Depression and suicide.- Illness insight and medication adherence.- Forensic aspects of schizophrenia care.- Social aspects of schizophrenia care.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Aaron John Plattner, MD (Network180 )
Description: This book provides a comprehensible and practical guide for clinicians caring for patients with psychosis. It is an update to the first edition published in 2008.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide both practical and clinical wisdom to equip readers to properly diagnose, build appropriate rapport, and treat patients with psychosis. These are worthy objectives given how many people struggle with psychosis coupled with the lack of education of many who provide treatment for patients with psychosis. The book meets these objectives.
Audience: This book states it is "an excellent resource for medical students, early career professionals such as trainees and fellows, and related clinicians seeking additional training and recourses, including those in psychiatry, psychology, neurology, and all others." Certainly this is a broad audience and all indicated would benefit from this book, but in my opinion the ideal readership is psychiatric residents, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and primary care providers who encounter patients with psychosis but may not have received adequate training. Given his training, research, and clinical experience, Dr. Freudenreich is qualified to author this book.
Features: The book is split into 34 chapters that educate the reader first on how to properly diagnose psychotic disorders, including appropriate interview techniques and what disorders much be ruled out. The next sections review the course of psychotic illnesses followed by various treatment strategies. The book concludes with a collection of different topics such as tobacco use and social and forensic aspects of schizophrenia care. Each chapter includes "essential concepts" that highlight the foundational aspects of the chapter; "tips," graphics, illustrations, and clinical vignettes to enable better comprehension for readers; and references and helpful additional resources.
Assessment: As a resident psychiatrist, I was encouraged to purchase the first edition of this book by colleagues who found it helpful, and I did as well. The second edition is much improved. Readers can clearly identify Dr. Freudenreich's deep and rich knowledge base of psychotic symptoms from decades of clinical practice and research. Reading this book feels like sitting in on a lecture given by Dr. Freudenreich, with clinical examples and key points. I have found this book to be one of the best practical guides on the treatment of psychotic disorders. Readers of all levels will find it straightforward and complete. I highly recommend it to all who encounter patients with psychosis.

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