Practical Psychopharmacology Translating Findings From Evidence-Based Trials into Real-World Clinical Practice

Despite the lack of guidance available for practitioners, extensive polypharmacy has become the primary method of treating patients with severe and chronic mood, anxiety, psychotic or behavioral disorders. This ground-breaking new book provides an overview of psychopharmacology knowledge and decision-making strategies, integrating findings from evidence-based trials with real-world clinical presentations. It adopts the approach and mind-set of a clinical investigator and reveals how prescribers can practice 'bespoke psychopharmacology', tailoring care to the individualized needs of patients. Practitioners at all levels of expertise will enhance their ability to devise rationale-based treatments, targeting manifestations of dysfunctional neural circuitry and dimensions of psychopathology that cut across conventional psychiatric diagnoses. Presented in a user-friendly, practical, full-colour layout and incorporating summary tables, bullet points, and illustrative case vignettes, it is an invaluable guide for all healthcare professionals prescribing psychotropic medications, including psychiatry specialists, primary care physicians, and advanced practice registered nurses.

Part I. General Principles: 1. Core concepts of good psychopharmacology; 2. Targets of treatment: categories versus dimensions of psychopathology; 3. Interpreting and using the literature: integrating evidence-based trials with real-world practice; 4. Placebo and nocebo effects; 5. Tailoring the fit: moderators and mediators of treatment outcome; 6. Complex regimens and rationale-based combination drug therapies; 7. Laboratory values and psychiatric symptoms: what to measure, what not to measure, and what to do with the results; 8. Pharmacogenetics: when relevant, when not; 9. Cross-tapering and the logistics of drug discontinuation; 10. Managing major adverse drug effects: when to avoid, switch, or treat through; 11. Novel drug therapeutics: nutraceuticals, steroids, probiotics, and other dietary supplements; 12. Human diversity and considerations in special populations; Part II. Targets of Pharmacotherapy: 13. Disordered mood and affect; 14. Disorders of impulsivity, compulsivity, and aggression; 15. Psychosis; 16. Deficit states and negative symptoms; 17. Anxiety; 18. Addiction and the reward pathway; 19. Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder; 20. Personality disorders; 21. Cognition; 22. Putting it all together; References; Index.

Joseph Goldberg is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Stephen M. Stahl is Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside, and Honorary Visiting Senior Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge.