This is a short but useful book. It is easy to access and contains a wealth of information for consultants, psychiatry trainees, medical students, pharmacists and pharmacologists. There are 12 chapters that cover the range of psychiatry and psychopharmacology from drug action to depression and dementia. Although anchored in clinical practice, basic pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are not neglected. Thus it contains what all psychiatrists should know about psychopharmacology, and will be helpful for pharmacologists to understand the real-world practice of prescribing. It has been been extensively rewritten in this edition, with new chapters on drugs used in personality disorder and behavioural disturbance and prescribing in clinical practice. Prescribing in personality disorder is an area much needed, and honest recognition that we do prescribe for personality disorder, and guidance for this, is very welcome. It provides practical pharmacological advice where National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is rather woolly or narrow in other areas too: in chapters on children and adolescents and for psychological symptoms of dementia.
The book is specifically linked to NICE guidance, but uniquely also considers guidance from the British Association for Psychopharmacology, and hence one can be reassured about the evidence base of recommendations made. It is affordable for trainees but also an essential update for consultants' CPD in a compact, accessible format. It has clear and understandable figures and tables.
Unsurprisingly, it won the title Psychiatry Book of the Year 2016 awarded by the British Medical Association. I would thoroughly recommend this as a core text. In short, it is very good.
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