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Psychiatric Essentials for Primary Care

Thomas N. Wise, M.D.

It is increasingly understood that primary-care physicians, whether in general internal medicine or family medicine, must recognize and treat psychiatric disorders in their patient population. In fact, the American College of Physicians has long had such programs within their annual meeting. The authors of this book have been active in such forums and have written a wonderful book that could be utilized by medical students, residents, and all physicians in practice. The fact that it is published by the American College of Physicians underscores the importance that this organization places on psychiatric disorders.

The book opens with an introduction to the basic concepts and terminology in psychiatry, with attention to disorders commonly seen within primary care. The next chapter focuses on potentially the most important element in assessing such patients; that is, the spectrum of suicidality. Excellent use of tables allows the reader to quickly review suicide risk-assessment with both potentiating risk factors and protective issues in assessing individuals who are potential candidates for self-harm.

Case studies are inserted throughout the chapters to make the issues even more readable within the excellent text. Topics such as confidentiality and appropriate documentation complement other clinical issues such as the use of antidepressants.

The book utilizes an organized system for clinical decision-making, which they describe with the mnemonic "MAPSO," denoting Mood, Anxiety, Psychosis, Substance Abuse, and Organic/Other, to organize the variety of psychiatric disorders that are commonly seen in primary-care settings.

The rest of the book reviews these disorders with easy-to-read discussions of clinical signs and appropriate treatment strategies. Tables outlining commonly-utilized medications, whether antidepressants, anti-anxiety agents, mood-stabilizers, or antipsychotics enhance the book’s usefulness. Each chapter ends with the key points within the text and ample references. The concluding sections discuss attention-deficit disorders in adults, eating disorders, and women’s mental health issues.

In essence, this is a beautifully produced, excellently written volume that should be on the desks of all psychosomatic specialists but, even more importantly, should be in the libraries of all physicians, whether they practice in primary-care settings or specialty areas. I would hope that this is the first of many editions of this book.

FOOTNOTES

 
Thomas N. Wise, M.D., is Chairman of the Dept. of Psychiatry at Inova Hospital, Fairfax, VA, and Editor emeritus of Psychosomatics.

Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Wise, T. N. Search for Related Content Articles by Wise, T. N. Syndromes Secondary to General Medical Disorders

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