This is a spin-off from Stephen M. Stahl's new, completely revised and updated version of his much-acclaimed Prescriber's Guide, covering drugs to treat depression.
Following the success of the first collection of Stahl's Case Studies, published in 2011, we are pleased to present this completely new selection of clinical stories. Designed with the distinctive user-friendly presentation readers have become accustomed to and making use of icons, questions/answers and tips, these cases address complex issues in an understandable way and with direct relevance to the everyday experience of clinicians. Covering a wide-ranging and representative selection of clinical scenarios, each case is followed through the complete clinical encounter, from start to resolution, acknowledging all the complications, issues, decisions, twists and turns along the way. The book is about living through the treatments that work, the treatments that fail, and the mistakes made along the journey. This is psychiatry in real life - these are the patients from your waiting room - this book will reassure, inform and guide better clinical decision making. Optional posttests with CME credit are available for a fee (waived for NEI members). For more information, contact the Neuroscience Education Institute.
Clinicians recognize that monitoring psychotropic levels provides invaluable information to optimize therapy and track treatment adherence, but they lack formal training specifically focused on the use of plasma antipsychotic levels for these purposes. As new technologies emerge to rapidly provide these results, the opportunity to integrate this information into clinical care will grow. This practical handbook clarifies confusing concepts in the literature on use of antipsychotic levels, providing clear explanations for the logic underlying clinically relevant concepts such as the therapeutic threshold and the point of futility, and how these apply to individual antipsychotics. It offers accessible information on the expected correlation between dosages and trough levels, and also provides a clear explanation of how to use antipsychotic levels for monitoring oral antipsychotic adherence, and methods to help clinicians differentiate between poor adherence and variations in drug metabolism. An essential resource for psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and mental health professionals worldwide.