The Peace of Mind Prescription: An Authoritative Guide to Finding the Most Effective Treatment for Anxiety and Depression [Hardcover]

Dennis Charney (Author), Charles Nemeroff (Author), Stephen R. Braun (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0618335021 | ISBN-13: 978-0618335022 | Edition: 1

Anxiety and depression rank among the most serious medical disorders today. According to the World Health Organization, depression causes more disabilities than any other condition. Yet 80 percent of the 38 million Americans suffering from anxiety and depression receive inadequate treatment.
Inspired by their work with patients and patient-advocacy groups, the psychiatrists Dennis S. Charney and Charles B. Nemeroff are on a mission to help everyone get the best treatment available. Stressing that any treatment must be tailored to the individual, The Peace of Mind Prescription details the full array of medically approved drugs and therapies, highlights the latest breakthroughs, and explores future possibilities. It advocates treating most adults with a combination of psychotherapy and medication and confirms the link between serious anxiety and depression and physical diseases. The authors examine the controversial question of treating children with medication, and they provide vital information specific to both sexes and all ages.
The Peace of Mind Prescription arms readers with resources to assess claims made for both mainstream and alternative treatments. It features inspiring stories of patients who have overcome their anxiety and depression disorders. Fresh, authoritative, and empowering, this book is a prescription that can aid everyone in need.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prozac? Wellbutrin? Celexa? Talk therapy? People experiencing depression and/or anxiety (the two are often linked) can find themselves lost in the welter of available treatments. This volume provides clear, coherent help in sorting it all out. Charney is the chief of the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health; Nemeroff is the chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University’s medical school. Up-to-date with the latest research information, they are the perfect docents to the complex world of bio-psychology. After explaining how anxiety and depression are diagnosed, the authors offer step-by-step advice on how to handle them. They particularly stress the importance of getting diagnosis and treatment from a psychiatrist or other trained mental-health worker; the importance of combining medication with psychotherapy; the benefits and side effects of the latest medications; the differing symptoms of men and women, adults and children. They also discuss how to deal with the risk of suicide. This is surely one of the best handbooks available for accurate information about these two increasingly common "thieves of happiness."
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About the Author

M.D. and Ph.D. Charles B. Nemeroff, professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University, is a leading researcher in psychopharmacology.

M.D. Dennis S. Charney is chief of the mood and anxiety disorder research program and the experimental therapeutics and pathophysiology branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). This program is the largest U.S. research group that focuses on identifying the origins of mental health disorders and discovering more effective treatment. With input from 200 experts across the country, Charney has recently completed NIMH's plan for the next 10 years of research on depression and anxiety disorders.

Stephen Braun is a contributor for the following Houghton Mifflin Company Title: The Peace of Mind Prescription

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (April 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618335021
• ISBN-13: 978-0618335022
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #544,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Helpful for Long-Term Patients, July 5, 2004

By 

M. A Petruzzelli (Delmar, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Peace of Mind Prescription: An Authoritative Guide to Finding the Most Effective Treatment for Anxiety and Depression (Hardcover)

I am in the middle of another episode of my major, clinical anxiety and depression. I bought this book hoping for some new information or insight for someone who has a chronic condition and, unfortunately, found none for me.
This appears to be an excellent book, though, that will be of major help to a person who is newly diagnosed or who thinks they may be suffering from anxiety or depression. (It puts together in one place all of the information that I wish I had when I was newly-diagnosed.)
I would not have purchsed this book if the population it was meant to serve had been made clearer.
I would recommend "Feeling Good" by David B. Burns, M.D. instead to those with chronic conditions. My version is from 1999, so some of the drug information isn't current, but I think there is a newer edition.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Useful and Informative Survey, December 16, 2005

By 

Lightman (New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Peace of Mind Prescription: An Authoritative Guide to Finding the Most Effective Treatment for Anxiety and Depression (Hardcover)

"Our fundamental message is hopeful: people can overcome anxiety and depression and find well-being, zest, and greater emotional resilience".

So write the authors of The Peace of Mind Prescription in a call to empowering those who suffer with anxiety and depression. They go on to say, "We're not saying the path will be easy, quick, or painless, but we are certain that good information is the foundation for any successful treatment - and that is what this book contains".

The first section characterizes mental health, resilience, and dysfunction. There is a useful overview of the operation of various neurotransmitters, as well as a discussion of the connection between physical well being and mental health.

Subsequent sections go into detail describing the variety of anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as the range of available treatments. There is a balanced and comprehensive review of various medications, how their functioning is presently understood, and what the common side effects entail. Particular issues pertaining to anxiety and depression in men, women, young people, and the elderly are also addressed.

Equipped with the information contained in this book, sufferers of anxiety and depression will be able to make more informed decisions regarding their treatment than would otherwise be the case. I would certainly recommend it for family members as well.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars articulates depression and anxiety well, October 4, 2004

By 

C. McCoy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Peace of Mind Prescription: An Authoritative Guide to Finding the Most Effective Treatment for Anxiety and Depression (Hardcover)

This book describes depression and anxiety very well from both a clinical and consumer standpoint, and I think it will go far in helping consumers of psychiatric and counseling services communicate better with the professionals they are seeing. I was hoping for more information on the clinical pharmachology of the newer SSRI's, and was disappointed to see so little about the research into the newer dopamine and norephinepherine based anti-depressants. However, the potential this book has for facilitating dialogue between provider and consumer is excellent. I took it off my shelf and gave it to a client, and will no doubt be ordering more for this purpose!