Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is one of the most complex and disabling diseases toaffect mankind. Relatively little is known about its natureand its origins, and available treatments are inadequate for mostpatients. As a result, there are inevitable controversies aboutwhat causes it, how to diagnose it, and how best to treat it. However, in the past decade, there has been an explosion ofnew research, with dramatic discoveries involving genetic etiologyand epidemiological risk factors. There has also been acatalog of new drugs coming to market, and controversy about therelative advantages and disadvantages of newer compared with oldertherapies. In addition, developing technologies in genomics,molecular biology and neuroimaging provide streams of newinformation.

This book represents a definitive, essential, and up-to-datereference text on schizophrenia. It extensively and criticallydigests and clarifies recent advances and places them within aclinical context. The Editors (one American and one British),highly respected clinical psychiatrists and researchers andacknowledged experts on schizophrenia, have again assembled anoutstanding group of contributors from the USA, UK, Europe andAustralia, It will be of value to practising psychiatrists and totrainees, as well as to clinical and neuroscience researchersinterested in keeping up with this field or coming into it.

The book consists of four sections: descriptive aspects,biological aspects, physical treatments, and psychological andsocial aspects. It reviews the theoretical controversiesover symptomatology, classification and aetiology (particularlypertinent as DSM-V is being developed), the relationship ofschizophrenia to the other psychoses, the significance of positiveand negative symptoms and pre-morbid personality. It describes avariety of approaches to integrating the vast research data aboutschizophrenia, including neurodevelopmental, genetic,pharmacological, brain imaging and psychological findings. Thebiological treatment section reviews the comparative efficacy ofvarious drugs, the management of drug-resistant patients and bothneurological and metabolic complications. The final section looksat psychological therapies, social outcomes, and the economics ofschizophrenia.

Highly Commended in the Psychiatry section of the 2012BMA Book Awards.