Customer Reviews

Medicines for Mental Health: The Ultimate Guide to Psychiatric Medication

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Kevin Thompson, Ph.D. has put together a
very user-friendly, well-organized and
infomative guide to current psychopharmacology.
Symptoms of mental illness, most appropriate
medications, side effects and their profiles,
are described in a succinct and comprehensive
style. I would describe the guide as elegant.

For my particular interest in lithium, I was
very pleased to read the Q-T cardiac prolongation
side effect warning, that lacks priority in may
other medical guides I have read.

I am very happy to have this guide in my collection.
It is great for the layman with a very considerate
Glossary of psychiatric terms in the final chapter.

Squiggles

As a Neuropsychiatrist, I find this book has it all - and in a simple to understand, concise and organized way. Whether you're a consumer looking to learn more about what your physician is prescribing, or a health care provider, this should be a "must have". It puts many of us "professionals" to shame. You can also see my comments in the book - but suffice it to say that if you want to learn more about psychotropic medications, this should be your first stop.

As a registered nurse, I must be picky about which books I use for reference. This book is fairly comprehensive in scope and can be used for the health care professional as well as any person simply interested in this topic. It is obvious that Dr. dePlume went to great effort and thought in putting this together. I am recommending it to all my colleagues.

At first I was a little put off because there is no index, but the table of contents is structured in such a way that it is not too difficult to find what I am looking for. That plus lots of cross-referencing throughout the book make it easy to use.

Several years ago I needed a good antidepressant and was put on Effexor. The depression lifted but I had hand tremors, inability to fall aspleep at night leading to the desire to sleep all day and a serious loss of libido. I met Nom dePlume on the net and he suggested Lexapro and the level of fighting depression was actually better with none of the side effects I'd encountered with Effexor.
I have the highest respect for the author. I've read this book on the net as it's developed and am thrilled the final version is out in hard copy!
Highly recommend!

This is a very useful book for anyone with a family member or close friend being treated for depression, particularly if they went through a couple of different treatment options before finding one that worked - or if they are going through that process right now.

It was enlightening to find out that identical depression symptoms can result from different problems in brain chemistry and that there are different classes of anti-depressants distinguished by how they affect brain chemistry, e.g., Monoamine Oxidase inhibitors versus reuptake inhibitors. Once the right class of anti-depressants is identified for an individual, the next step becomes a search for the medicine with the side effects that the individual tolerates best.

This book provides a roadmap to a treatment process that can otherwise seem bewildering or random. With this book as a reference, it doesn't have to be either. Highly recommended.

This is by far the most reader-friendly, reliable, honest and balanced overview of the field of psychiatric medications that I've been able to find. One can use it as a reference book as well as an introductory text to the entire field. Nom dePlume provides clear and accurate information on the drugs including the newest antidepressants (that are absent in other books that I have read). The book also covers side effects, drug interactions, and possible reasons why a drug might not be effective for a particular case.

If you are looking for an honest, informed, professional opinion, backed up by experience and an objective review of the evidence, then this book is for you. I would give it six stars if I could.

Kevin Thompson wrote Medicines For Mental Health, The Ultimate Guide to Psychiatric Medication because the book needed to be written and read by those of us who are experiencing some form of mental illness. Those of us who experience depression and other forms of mental illness typically go to psychiatrists for help. Psychiatrists prescribe drugs to assist us in living our daily lives. The selection of the appropriate drug with the appropriate dose to fit each individual is as much an art as it is a science. Many times questions remain unanswered.

Drugs used to treat mental illness affect the patient's entire life. First, there are a number of drugs to choose from, each may or may not be effective for a particular individual at a specified dose, and each has potential side effects. Many of the drugs take time to become effective. Second, each patient must become an active participant in their own therapy by observing and reporting their individual response to the drug. Highly intelligent people, typical victims of depression and other forms of mental illnesses, often have creative jobs. Certain medications can destroy an individual's ability to think, perform as a professional, interfere with personal relationship, inhibit a person's sexual performance, or simply make it impossible to stay awake. This book provides information to the patient, and perhaps their loved ones, on how an individual can observe, understand and participate in his own treatment.

The author has organized the information in such a way that a patient can locate a disorder, identified the drugs typically prescribed to treat that disorder, gather information regarding doses and periods of effectiveness, and become aware of the possible side effects. The information in the book is not exhaustive from a medical viewpoint. However, it provides useful information for the patient, information either not discussed or covered too quickly by the psychiatrists.

J. F. Skipper Ph.D.

This guy claims to be a bipolar person. He is a member of a sexist Usenet Group "BEEPERS PEEPERS" where he is a manager of the group. The group is known for banishing people who exhibit extreme bipolar condition and who are resistant to psychotropic medications.

The book was originally written under the name "Nom de Plume" by his user name "Nom de Plume." At best, this guy is a quack and the book should be avoided at all costs especially since its predecessor could be found FREE in the Usenet community.

Oh, and by the way "He's a rocket scientists!" Do you want someone who is so brash in describing oneself to be giving you advice on drugs that are being pushed by drug companies OFTEN indifferent to a patients needs and condition?

Go to GOOGLE GROUPS and search for him "Nom de plume" before you buy and decide for yourself!

This book is written not by a medical doctor but by a machinist. He has no medical expertise in the field. The book is simply a bunch of stuff that has been cut and pasted from the internet. Not worth the money.