In the eight years since the publication of the second edition of this Guide, psycho phannacotherapy has made many advances not only through the discovery of new medications but by the effective directing of their use to an ever-increasing variety of clinical disorders. These welcome developments are reflected in the concurrent growth and development of the Guide itself, which now enters adulthood with renewed vigor. Under the thoughtful and scholarly leadership of Dr. Alan Gelenberg, the third edition has undergone a significant transformation designed to meet the needs of the modem clinician. The panel of contributors is nearly double that of the former edition with the addition of nine new authors, who have helped in the major revision and rewriting of the text and in a broadening of the topics included. As a conse quence, the reader is assured of a thorough and thoroughly up-to-date coverage of current psychopharmacology that is both accurate and aimed at clinical utility. Having reached maturity, the third edition, while maintaining the lineaments of its earlier versions, is a considerably expanded and strengthened guide to treatment. Although now more encyclopedic in content, the new Practitioner' s Guide to Psy choactive Drugs retains the virtues of a clinical vade mecum that informed its predecessors and have eamed it a place by the patient's bedside for weIl over a decade. One may confidently anticipate its long and flourishing career in the years ahead. John C. Nemiah, M.D."

Books, like people, are born, and, if they survive the trauma of birth, mature in response to a changing environment. This volume is no exception. It imme diately proved its usefulness to psychiatric clinicians upon its publication six years ago, and it is not surprising to find it now entering a new phase of life in a second edition. The many and significant changes that the reader will find herein reflect not only the rapid growth of knowledge in the field of psy chopharmacology but also the editors' wise awareness of the need to incorpo rate that knowledge into clinical practice. Important new sections have been added on the management of elderly patients, on the pharmacological approach to those with temporal lobe epilepsy, and on the use of psychoactive medications during pregnancy. The existing clinical sections have been expanded, and the format has been altered to make the volume more practi cally useful for the harried clinician. Most important of all, the discussions of individual drugs have been carefully revised to update information about those medications that have stood the test of time and to include those newer pharmacological agents that have appeared on the clinical scene since the publication of the first edition. This last task has been significantly aided by the addition of Dr. Alan J. Gelenberg to the family of editors; his clinical and scientific knowledge nicely complements that of Drs. Bassuk and Schoonover, and its influence is evident throughout."

Once again, in their new edition of a classic American handbook of clinical psycho pharmacology, Drs. Gelenberg and Bassuk and their colleagues have produced a master work of sound clinical guidelines for the use of medicines as an increasingly central component of contemporary psychiatric practice. They have recruited an outstanding panel of coauthors, but have managed to maintain a high level of consistency of quality and style throughout the many chapters on specific classes of psychiatric illnesses and their corresponding treatments. The book continues to encapsulate the clinically rele vant essentials of the pharmacology of each major class of psychotropic agents in a way that clinicians can easily grasp. Moreover, it provides sound and carefully consid ered specific guidelines to diagnosis, drug selection, and dosing and patient assessment, with particularly rich presentations on the recognition and management of adverse effects. Inclusion of chapters on pediatric and geriatric populations and on topics pertaining to substance abuse disorders and medicolegal aspects of the field are unusual in books of this kind, and so are particularly valuable. Students and trainees will appreciate the handbook's well-organized and readable style, and practicing clinicans should be satisified with its balanced consideration of older, standard treatments as well as the latest medicines and trends in clinical psychopharmacology, with glimpses into future developments.

Once again, in their new edition of a classic American handbook of clinical psycho pharmacology, Drs. Gelenberg and Bassuk and their colleagues have produced a master work of sound clinical guidelines for the use of medicines as an increasingly central component of contemporary psychiatric practice. They have recruited an outstanding panel of coauthors, but have managed to maintain a high level of consistency of quality and style throughout the many chapters on specific classes of psychiatric illnesses and their corresponding treatments. The book continues to encapsulate the clinically rele vant essentials of the pharmacology of each major class of psychotropic agents in a way that clinicians can easily grasp. Moreover, it provides sound and carefully consid ered specific guidelines to diagnosis, drug selection, and dosing and patient assessment, with particularly rich presentations on the recognition and management of adverse effects. Inclusion of chapters on pediatric and geriatric populations and on topics pertaining to substance abuse disorders and medicolegal aspects of the field are unusual in books of this kind, and so are particularly valuable. Students and trainees will appreciate the handbook's well-organized and readable style, and practicing clinicans should be satisified with its balanced consideration of older, standard treatments as well as the latest medicines and trends in clinical psychopharmacology, with glimpses into future developments."