Essential Psychopharmacology: The Prescriber's Guide

I am new at this prescribing thing and seem to have a whole lot more questions than I have answers... The Prescriber's Guide truly is "Essential" ... I have long been a fan of Stahl and his ability to make dry and difficult material come to life and thereby easier to understand ... even makes me laugh ... I can not say enough good things about this book- it offers a wealth of practical "real world" information about prescribing and answers "newbie" questions that typically beget the "you'll learn that with experience" answer. An absolute MUST HAVE for the novice prescriber- thank you Stephen Stahl!

Another gem from Dr. Stahl! The format, illustrations, and simplified explanations are just amazing. No doubt, this book is an excellent resource for students, trainees, and practicing psychiatrists.

This book has more CLEAR, understandable information about the biological basis of psychotropic medications in one place than I have ever seen before. The illustrations add MUCH to the clarity and level of understanding. I find it invaluable!

Stahl and Stahl's "Essential Psychopharmacology" is the book to read, hopefully earlier than later, in Psychiatry residency to appreciate the science behind psychopharmacology, but the spin-off "Prescriber's Guide" is the book to use as a quick reference. And, owing to unfortunate realities of the health care system and medical training, a quick reference is often all there is time for. There are other reference books for psych drugs, most of which are smaller and more portable. However, the other guides tend to lump drugs into categories, with a chapter on the atypicals, for example, in which they discuss the drugs as a class and bounce around between drugs within the class for specific details. This may be helpful for learning purposes, but when you want information on a specific medication, Stahl and Stahl's presentation is much more helpful. I refer back to this book often, and particularly find it helpful when a patient comes in on a medication, from another prescriber, with which I am not too familiar. The information is presented in a very clear, well-ordered way, including standard graphic representations of receptor types and mechanisms involved and side effect profiles. Also helpful are tips on the art of prescribing, which are collected bits of practical wisdom from those more experienced. This book won't fit in a white coat pocket, but it's worth it. 5 stars, I highly recommend it, buy it now. And, by the way, I would like to remind everyone that the left lane is for passing only. This applies to walking on the sidewalk as well as driving. Do not walk side by side with your friend right in the middle of the sidewalk if you are walking slower than people who seem to have someplace to go. Thank you for listening, nighty-night.

Extremely handy alphabetical format with all of the necessary considerations laid out in an interesting, eye-catching manner in Stahl's characteristic fashion. In addition there are pearls and tips about each drug's use which are informative and thought provoking. I would check it after ePocrates, and before seriously considering the use of any drug with which I am not very familiar. And it provides useful reminders and some, to me, new information about some of the drugs I thought I knew quite well. Pattison Esmiol, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychuatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.