Kaplan & Sadock’s Pocket Handbook of Clinical Psychiatry

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Preface

that follows a set template so that information is easier to find than in previous editions. Organization of This Book Though updated, the format of the seventh edition is not radically different from previous editions, and chapters follow closely along with the organization of DSM-5-TR . Readers will find that the information presented in each chapter fol lows a similar template where each condition is given its own section and broken up into the following subsections: epidemiology; comorbidity; etiology; labora tory and psychological tests; pathophysiology; diagnosis, signs, and symptoms; specifications (when appropriate); differential diagnosis; course and prognosis; and treatment. While there are several chapters where adherence to the template was not feasible, most of the book is organized in this fashion. New Additions to This Book Some of the new chapters that have been added to the seventh edition break with this pattern because they do not describe conditions, but rather the science behind novel therapies that were traditionally considered outside the parameters of psy chiatry. These therapies include treatment with cannabis, ketamine, and psyche delics such as psilocybin and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). A new chapter has also been included that provides information about the SARS-CoV-2 virus, long COVID, and the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic—with subsections describing the unique challenges for children, se niors, and patients with psychiatric issues. The chapter on COVID-19 also de scribes issues like clinician burnout and changes in medical pedagogy. The new edition also includes a section on emerging trends in psychiatry. No doubt, there has been a lot of interest in the potential of artificial intelligence and generative text, but advancements in scanning, brain mapping, and virtual reality also have enormous clinical implications. Similarly, the fields of immu nology, endocrinology, neurology, and psychiatry are all converging in the study of the gut microbiome and the gut-brain axis. The purpose of mentioning these emerging trends is not to provide the clinician with expertise but to whet their intellectual appetite and encourage personal research. Purpose of This Series As with previous editions of the Pocket Handbook of Clinical Psychiatry and the companion book, the Pocket Handbook of Psychiatric Drug Treatment , the purpose of this book is to be an easy-to-navigate source of information that phy sicians, nurses, and other individuals who work in the field of mental health can access while in the field. My hope is that improvements in organization and the addition of visual aids, such as color-coded thumb tabs, will ultimately make it easier to find and retrieve information, upholding the original intent of the series and better serving the clinician and the patient.

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Of note this book was written entirely by a human with no assistance from generative AI tools.