Psychotropic Drugs — Fast Facts

Psychotropic Drugs — Fast Facts

Jerrold S. Maxmen

New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company, 279 pp., 1991

Most psychiatrists are professional “jet-setters,” living busy professional and social lives. As a result, continuing medical education is easily sidelined by the demands on our time. Any source of information which is comprehensive, well packaged and easy to consult should be seized upon, cherished and used frequently.

This book meets these requirements. Antipsychotics, anticholinergics, antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, lithium, anticonvulsants, antianxiety agents, hypnotics and stimulants are each summarized in a clear and tabular format. The pharmacology, clinical indications, side-effects, cost and many other useful gems of information are covered for each drug and group of drugs. The author claims this to be a BWV (book without verbs), and, although this is an exaggeration, it is nevertheless a readable and informative precis of the field.

The book’s only drawbacks are its cost and the likelihood that it will become out-dated as new products and problems emerge. However, this is compensated for by its wire-bound format and size — it (just) fits into my pocket. It can be highly recommended as a quick reference manual.