Bipolar Psychopharmacotherapy

Book excerpt: "If a colleague were to ask me, "What would you recommend I read if I want to become a real expert on bipolarity?" I would respond Bipolar Psychopharmacotherapy: Caring for the Patient." Journal of Bipolar Disorders And the second edition is even better! Bipolar Psychopharmacotherapy covers both pharmacotherapy and the supportive role of psychotherapy, psychoeducation and social approaches to provide a broad integrative philosophy of care for bipolar patients. Extensive coverage is given to special management issues such as the pharmacological care of women with bipolar disorder, children and the elderly, as well as bipolar depression and suicide prevention. The mood swings that characterize bipolar disorder can now be better stabilized in most patients than in the past, but the illness must be carefully managed throughout a person's life. Pharmacotherapy is central to the acute treatment and long-term management and as there are several classes of drugs which are often prescribed concurrently, treatment issues are complex. This essential reference work features critical reviews of the existing literature, plus information on new treatments that have been reported at peer reviewed scientific meetings, often written by the pioneering experts on a particular treatment. The second-generation antipsychotics are now covered in separate chapters to provide in-depth coverage of these agents. There are also new chapters on the pharmacological treatments of mixed states and rapid cycling and novel therapeutic vistas.