[...]... an evaluation for pharmacotherapy is warranted, treatment may not be going as expected, or there may be medical issues that arise Any number of questions might prompt the consideration of a pharmacotherapy consultation, and nonprescribing practitioners should be aware of these issues to ensure that patients receive optimal treatment Principles of Psychopharmacology for Mental Health Professionals By... Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), are valuable sources of information from the patient’s perspective What is the current status of pharmacotherapy? The last 10–15 years have been exciting times in the field of pharmacotherapy of mental disorders For example, when we compare the state of affairs... -ologist (which means one who studies) to Principles of Psychopharmacology for Mental Health Professionals By Jeffrey E Kelsey, D Jeffrey Newport, and Charles B Nemeroff Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc 9 10 BASICS OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY endocrine, we get the term endocrinologist An endocrinologist is simply a doctor who studies and treats illnesses of the hormone system But the hormone system... equivalent of “crosstalk” that occurs when telephone lines are crossed Examples of this problem are the so-called neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, certain forms of mental retardation, and possibly schizophrenia 4 Poor Timing of Neurotransmission The activity of some brain circuits, like the secretion of certain hormones, varies at certain times of the day Called circadian rhythms, the timing of. .. Pharmaceuticals FACULT Y DISCLOSURE FACULT Y DISCLOSURE xix Board of Directors American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education (APIRE) George West Mental Health Foundation Novadel Pharma National Foundation for Mental Health (NFMH) Patents Methods and devices for transdermal delivery of lithium (US6,375,990 B1) Methods to estimate serotonin and... conscious participation For example, you don’t usually make conscious efforts to control your blood pressure (although with biofeedback training you can exert some level of control) This type of information is processed in “primitive” regions of your brain and don’t require your conscious participation Thought and emotion are also processing functions of the nervous system This type of processing occurs... brain and spinal cord The PNS is the interface of the nervous system with the rest of the body and the external environment It is comprised of nerve fibers and small clusters of nerve cells known as ganglia Neurologists treat nervous system diseases that mainly cause physical symptoms Therefore, they are concerned with both the CNS and the PNS Mental health professionals, on the other hand, treat diseases... years, we have learned a great deal about the functions of each of these structures This knowledge has come about in several ways First, we can look at the effect of disease or injury in a particular part of the brain For example, if a stroke causes paralysis, then we can assume that the injured part of the brain was responsible for movement of the paralyzed body parts Likewise, if an injury results... that the injured part of the brain contributed to those behavioral alterations One of the best-known examples is the effect of a stroke upon mood It is well known that a stroke to the left frontal area of the brain dramatically increases the likelihood of depression On the other hand, 12 BASICS OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY a stroke to the right frontal area increases the likelihood of developing a manic episode... amounts of information We will try to avoid using too many of these technical terms as we set off on our journey into the study of (-ology) how medications (pharmaco-) affect the mind (psycho-) In a word, let’s take a look at psychopharmacology 2.1.2 Overview Before we introduce you to the many psychiatric illnesses and the medications used to treat these illnesses, you first need a general understanding of . w0 h0" alt="" PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS Jeffrey. site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Principles of psychopharmacology for mental health professionals / Jeffrey E. Kelsey.