Book Review: Bipolar Disorder: Clinician's Guide to Bipolar Disorder: Integrating Pharmacology and Psychotherapy

Abstract

Reviews the book, Clinician's Guide to Bipolar Disorder: Integrating Pharmacology and Psychotherapy by David J. Miklowitz and Michael J. Gitlin (see record [rid]2014-05861-000[/rid]). Unlike other manuals focused mostly on medications, this book stands out as a fairly unique one as it attempts to help clinician needs and addresses important treatment issues. Rather than surveying, as usual, the available medications and the literature about their clinical trials, this book provides the needed advice on how to proceed and make treatment decisions in different stages of the illness. The focus is on useful strategies in clinical practice. The literature is critically evaluated and summarized, along with the authors’ substantial experience from their own clinical involvement. Starting with the basics of bipolar disorder (BD), the authors proceed to cover the main controversies currently being debated among clinicians and researchers. They stress the importance of systematic intake evaluation, of pharmacological approaches while treating acute mania and acute depression and of combining pharmacological and psychosocial approach during the maintenance phase. They deal with non-adherent patients, suicide prevention, BD comorbidity, and with unique issues faced by women during pregnancy and postpartum. The book is a lucidly written, amazingly erudite, highly readable account of often complex clinical matters and the most challenging, common clinical problem is, however, the choice of effective treatment of bipolar depression and long-term stabilization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)