Customer Reviews

Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology Made Simple

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I found this book to be extremely helpful in understanding the possible medications that may be prescribed to treat different childhood disorders. As a therapist, I appreciate the layout of possible side effects and helpful range of dosage for particular medications. I believe that parents would find this book informative when they are trying to make a decision on whether medication may be helpful for their child.

When working with kids who take psychotropic medication, it's nice to have this book as a reference to answer parents' questions.

This book was very informative, easy to read and understand. As a Master's level graduate student, I find this book to be a valuable resource.

Chapter 7 (Autism Spectrum Disorders) is outdated and offensive. Based on this chapter alone, I would change the name of the book to "Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychopharmacology Made INACCURATE."

Page 87 understates the prevalence of autism, which has been growing at a tremendous rate - much higher than any other diagnosis. When this book was being published, the current CDC estimate was 1 in 166 (not "as high as 1 in 250"). On Feb 9, 2007, the CDC published a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) using data from 2000 and 2002. The average prevalence was reported as 1 in 150. Read more on websites: CDC, Autism Speaks, First Signs, Autism Research Institute.

Page 92 states, "Some researchers favor the idea that these disorders are a result of disturbance in affective development." No respected researcher today believes the original theory of the pathophysiology of autism as being a legitimate possibility. Leo Kanner first proposed the theory which was then popularized by Bruno Bettelheim. Bernard Rimland's book Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implication for a Neural Theory of Behavior (1964) changed the current thinking of the etiology of autism from psychiatric to biological. For detail see the articles "refrigerator mother," "causes of autism" and "Bernard Rimland" on Wikipedia's website.

In my opinion, the most innovative and paradigm-shifting view on the cause(s) of autism is clearly explained by Dr. Martha Herbert's article "Autism: A Brain Disorder or a Disorder That Affects the Brain?" Clinical Neuropsychiatry (2005) 2, 6, 354-379 (available on her webpage at MIT).

Page 92 states, "thimerosal-containing vaccines such as MMR". This phrase shows a lack of knowledge about vaccines. The MMR contains live viruses, and therefore cannot contain thimerosal, which would kill these viruses and inactivate them. The concern about the MMR was/is the chronic vaccine-strain measles virus found in the intestines and spinal fluid of some individuals with autism. Thimerosal was used in many other pediatric vaccines, such as the Hep B and the DTaP. When the amount of mercury injected into the child was calculated, it was found to exceed both the FDA and EPA toxic exposure limits. It is believed that some individuals are even more genetically susceptible to mercury (not in the middle of the bell curve) and cannot clear it from the body, possibly due to lack of reduced glutathione or abnormal metabolic pathways. The vaccine issue is not considered resolved. There are many criticisms of the IOM's report. David Kirby's bestseller "Evidence of Harm" explains a lot of the conflicts of interest and manipulation of data. Even one of the Centers of Excellence, the UC Davis MIND Institute (see "Clinic" then "Position Papers") acknowledges that although the majority of people (epidemiological studies) may show no adverse reactions to a vaccine, there will be susceptible individuals. Thimerosal has been removed from pediatric vaccines with the exception of the influenza vaccine, which is being recommended to both infants and pregnant women.

Finally, the Autism Research Institute has found that certain diets, nutritional supplements and other treatments are more effective in many (especially younger) patients than drugs. These treatments target the cause of the biological symptoms (example, gastrointestinal problems) instead of treating symptoms.