Publications
APS Bulletin • Volume 10, Number 5, September/October 2000
Resource Reviews
John D. Loeser, MD, Department Editor
The Psychopharmacology Sourcebook
Reviewed by Mark Sullivan, MD PhD
M. Zetin & D. Tate, Lowell House, Lincolnwood, IL, 1999, 364 pages, $17.95 (softcover), ISBN 0-7373-0266-6
This book is written ”for the person who is considering taking a psychiatric medication, or who has been taking one and has some questions about it.“ It is written largely in layman’s terms. There are chapters on psychiatric diagnosis, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance abuse. Its strongest features are clinical vignettes that might allow patients facing psychiatric treatment to see their situation as understandable if not fully normal. There are some good sections on combining psychopharmacology with psychotherapy. I believe that videotapes are a more compelling medium for most patients and families for the purpose of education and destigmatization. The major limitation of this book for the audience of pain patients is its explicit psychiatric focus. Patients with chronic pain placed on antidepressants do not in fact need to accept the identity of a psychiatric patient to adhere and respond to this treatment. One need not force them into accepting that they have a separate mental disorder that requires explicitly psychiatric treatment. If a pain patient needs to learn about the treatment of psychiatric disorders beyond depression, such as bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or panic disorder, this might be a useful book.
Mark Sullivan is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.