From Library Journal
In this collection of short articles, Noll (psychology, Allentown Coll.; The Jung Cult: Origins of Charismatic Movement) explores the history, etiology, biology, and treatment of psychotic disorders. The encyclopedia's positive features include excellent references for further reading at the end of each article, a good bibliography, appendixes listing the North American and European diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, and sources of further information on schizophrenia. But by Noll's admission, the emphasis here is almost exclusively on schizophrenia, with bipolar disorder and other psychoses receiving scant coverage. While the little snippets on such topics as "Utica Cribs" and "Vampirism, Clinical" are interesting, it is hard to imagine the reference search that would lead to them. In general, this seems like the sort of book that would be handiest in the practitioner or scholar's office. For larger academic collections.DMary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
This is a true encyclopedia, highly valuable as a support tool rather than as a stand-alone work, for while the information is certainly coherent, it does not offer a concise overview of the disorders. What The Encyclopedia of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders does notably well is to act as a Rosetta stone, cracking the medical and scientific jargon to support informed entry into a very disturbing, complicated world. Although much of the information is contemporary, the scope reaches back to the mid-1700s. Entries are both straightforward, as with the description of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy), and provocative, as in the discussion Abuse of psychiatric patients . The reader will also find entries on individuals such as German neurologist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915) and French reformer Philippe Pinel (1745-1826), as well as chilling descriptions of cruel, even fatal, archaic courses of treatment.More than 600 entries range in length from a single sentence to more than a page. Changes from the first edition include updated information on Atypical antipsychotics, the new class of drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the 1990s. Readers seeking greater depth will appreciate the use of full reference citations in many of the entries. Appendixes include the "North American Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia" from the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition ), and the "European Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia" from the ICD- 10 (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition ). Also included is a directory listing medical, psychiatric, psychological, and mental health organizations and associations.This is the book to which one would turn while attempting to comprehend schizophrenia from such vantage points as the patient dealing with diagnosis or prognosis, an affected family member trying to navigate clinical literature, or a student tackling high-school or college research assignments. It is recommended for reference collections in public, high-school, and undergraduate libraries. RBB
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