Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Psychiatry, Second Edition,
reflects the current dynamic state of psychiatric knowledge. New discoveries
from the basic biomedical and psychological sciences are having a major
impact on psychiatric practice today. The task is to translate these new
discoveries into a form useful to clinicians. This text is intended to be
practical, succinct, and useful for all health care professionals who
encounter and provide care for individuals with psychiatric symptoms and
behavioral disturbance.
The field of psychiatry
has undergone a gradual change in the last several decades. It has moved
from a body of medical and psychological knowledge that was theory-bound, to
an empirical approach that is more flexible with regard to reasoning about
etiology. This change came about as it became apparent that developments in
neurobiology, genetics, and cognitive and developmental psychology would
make unanticipated inroads into our understanding of the etiology and
pathogenesis of psychiatric syndromes. Furthermore, a more flexible
philosophy evolved regarding the description and definition of psychiatric
syndromes. Some syndromes have indistinct boundaries and shade into each
other. In addition, the idea of discovering a single underlying biochemical
characteristic of a psychiatric syndrome, which would in turn clarify the
diagnostic description and predict treatment, was recognized as being
hopelessly simplistic. Moreover, through the complexity of behavioral
genetics, we now understand that those genotypes which are becoming highly
significant in understanding psychopathology and developmental psychology
may lead to unexpected phenotypes which do not fit our current conception of
the psychiatric syndromes.
Section I of
Current
Diagnosis & Treatment: Psychiatry, Second Edition, identifies some
of the major tributaries of scientific knowledge that inform the current
theory and practice of psychiatry and also presents techniques for the
evaluation of psychiatric patients. Section II presents the diagnosis,
phenomenology, and psychopathology of the major adult psychiatric syndromes
and their evidence-based treatments. Section III presents the same material
for the major syndromes seen in child and adolescent psychiatry. Section IV
presents specialized settings for diagnosis and treatment in psychiatry.
Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Psychiatry,
Second Edition, is written from an empirical viewpoint, with recognition
that the boundaries of psychopathological syndromes may change unexpectedly
with the emergence of new knowledge. Eventually, the accumulation of new
knowledge will sharpen our diagnostic techniques and improve the treatment
of these illnesses that have such a high impact on normal development,
health, and society.
Michael H. Ebert, MD
Peter T. Loosen, MD, PhD
Barry Nurcombe, MD
James F. Leckman, MD
November 2007