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Psychiatry for Neurologists

Psychiatry for Neurologists edited by Dilip V. Jeste, MD, and Joseph H. Friedman, MD, 427 pp, with illus, $135, ISBN 10588-29-483-8, Totowa, NJ, Humana Press, 2006. The 29 chapters of this edited volume cover a lot of ground, starting with the historical interaction between neurology and psychiatry and ranging in subjects from the psychiatric impact of cerebellar lesions to neurosurgical treatments for psychiatric syndromes. The chapter on psychiatric evaluation of the neurological patient, which should be the cornerstone of this work, contains a number of useful suggestions but is poorly organized compared with the excellent chapter on childhood disorders and omits testing of abstract reasoning from the mental status examination. The book contains a chapter on epilepsy with a very helpful section on nonepileptic seizures, a very interesting chapter on the diagnosis and management of catatonia, and good information on the management of somatoform disorders. There are useful chapters on dealing with the psychiatric complications of stroke, the global management of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and the diagnosis and approach to dealing with depression and cognitive impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis. There was too much reliance on diagnostic instruments in the discussion of poststroke depression; antidepressant drugs in current use are so benign that if a clinician suspects depression, treatment should be undertaken immediately. Although it would have increased redundancy, it would have been useful to indicate appropriate dose ranges for psychotropic drugs mentioned in the various chapters; this was done extremely well in the chapter on Huntington disease. The editors introduce this volume by stating that it is focused on practical issues and is “intended to help the clinical neurologist interpret the behavioral problems in their patients themselves, not necessarily to manage the problems independently, but rather to understand the patient in a larger context.” Had this been the sole intent of this book, I would have found many of the chapters far off the mark. However, the book jacket indicates that it is excellent for preparing for the boards, and if board preparation is part of the editors' goals, then sections on history and epidemiology are more appropriate. Awkward phrasing and typographical errors throughout the book suggest inadequate copyediting. For example, on page 12, it is stated under a reproduction of the famous painting by Jean Martin Charcot demonstrating a patient with hysteria that “Contrary to what is sometimes stated, Freund does not appear in the painting.” I suspect that “Freund” is in fact Sigmund Freud and he was not in the painting either. The weakest chapter in the book concerns emergencies. It contains clumsy wording such as “The rule with crises is that they happen unexpectedly” and throwaway suggestions such as “It is important . . . to get the patient linked up with the department of aging.” There is gold in this book for those with sufficient perseverance to sift out the nuggets. Prose ★★ Illustrations ★★★ Science ★★★ Usefulness ★★ Back to top Article Information Correspondence: Dr Weiner, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390 (myron.weiner@email.swmed.edu). http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of Neurology American Medical Association

Psychiatry for Neurologists

Archives of Neurology , Volume 63 (4) – Apr 1, 2006

Psychiatry for Neurologists

Abstract

edited by Dilip V. Jeste, MD, and Joseph H. Friedman, MD, 427 pp, with illus, $135, ISBN 10588-29-483-8, Totowa, NJ, Humana Press, 2006. The 29 chapters of this edited volume cover a lot of ground, starting with the historical interaction between neurology and psychiatry and ranging in subjects from the psychiatric impact of cerebellar lesions to neurosurgical treatments for psychiatric syndromes. The chapter on psychiatric evaluation of the neurological patient, which should be the...
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Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0003-9942
eISSN
1538-3687
DOI
10.1001/archneur.63.4.623-b
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

edited by Dilip V. Jeste, MD, and Joseph H. Friedman, MD, 427 pp, with illus, $135, ISBN 10588-29-483-8, Totowa, NJ, Humana Press, 2006. The 29 chapters of this edited volume cover a lot of ground, starting with the historical interaction between neurology and psychiatry and ranging in subjects from the psychiatric impact of cerebellar lesions to neurosurgical treatments for psychiatric syndromes. The chapter on psychiatric evaluation of the neurological patient, which should be the cornerstone of this work, contains a number of useful suggestions but is poorly organized compared with the excellent chapter on childhood disorders and omits testing of abstract reasoning from the mental status examination. The book contains a chapter on epilepsy with a very helpful section on nonepileptic seizures, a very interesting chapter on the diagnosis and management of catatonia, and good information on the management of somatoform disorders. There are useful chapters on dealing with the psychiatric complications of stroke, the global management of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and the diagnosis and approach to dealing with depression and cognitive impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis. There was too much reliance on diagnostic instruments in the discussion of poststroke depression; antidepressant drugs in current use are so benign that if a clinician suspects depression, treatment should be undertaken immediately. Although it would have increased redundancy, it would have been useful to indicate appropriate dose ranges for psychotropic drugs mentioned in the various chapters; this was done extremely well in the chapter on Huntington disease. The editors introduce this volume by stating that it is focused on practical issues and is “intended to help the clinical neurologist interpret the behavioral problems in their patients themselves, not necessarily to manage the problems independently, but rather to understand the patient in a larger context.” Had this been the sole intent of this book, I would have found many of the chapters far off the mark. However, the book jacket indicates that it is excellent for preparing for the boards, and if board preparation is part of the editors' goals, then sections on history and epidemiology are more appropriate. Awkward phrasing and typographical errors throughout the book suggest inadequate copyediting. For example, on page 12, it is stated under a reproduction of the famous painting by Jean Martin Charcot demonstrating a patient with hysteria that “Contrary to what is sometimes stated, Freund does not appear in the painting.” I suspect that “Freund” is in fact Sigmund Freud and he was not in the painting either. The weakest chapter in the book concerns emergencies. It contains clumsy wording such as “The rule with crises is that they happen unexpectedly” and throwaway suggestions such as “It is important . . . to get the patient linked up with the department of aging.” There is gold in this book for those with sufficient perseverance to sift out the nuggets. Prose ★★ Illustrations ★★★ Science ★★★ Usefulness ★★ Back to top Article Information Correspondence: Dr Weiner, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390 (myron.weiner@email.swmed.edu).

Journal

Archives of NeurologyAmerican Medical Association

Published: Apr 1, 2006

There are no references for this article.