The Medication Question

Weighing Your Mental Health Treatment Options

For Patients and Their Families

Ronald J. Diamond (Author, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Overview | Contents | Inside the Book

Helping readers understand the factors and considerations when deciding whether or not to take psychotropic drugs.

This important volume provides a thorough overview of a range of mental disorders, describing how they are affected by various medications and other interventions, to foster a strong alliance between family, patient, and clinician.

Diamond asks us to step well back from the brink of the "doctor knows best" mentality, addressing a more basic and radical question: Do I (or does my family member) really need medication, and if so, why, what, when, how and for how long? What is the problem for which I might be considering taking medication? Diamond faces the facts that some individuals do not benefit from medication, that taking medication regularly should never be the goal of treatment (as it often seems to be), and that medication in some conditions may have meaning and utility for the person even when there is no proven clinical indication for it.

This book is an invaluable guide to medications—including complementary and herbal products—that you might consider for various psychiatric and psychological conditions. Clinicians, clients, and family members alike will learn to collaborate, negotiate, create individualized treatment plans, and share in the decision-making process about whether to medicate or not.

Book Details

Paperback
September 2011
ISBN 978-0-393-70630-7
5.5 × 8.3 in / 320 pages
Territory Rights: Worldwide

Endorsements & Reviews

“This book, together with its extensive bibliography, is highly recommended as a resource and educational guide for patients and their families. . . . If one were to read the book from cover to cover, he/she would be privy to an elementary study of psychiatric disorders and their treatment. . . . The author's clarity of thought and succinct discussion of complicated issues are readily understandable. . . . in a manner that is easily understood by a nonprofessional reader.” — Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

“Diamond has drawn on his decades of experience and dedication to produce an extraordinary book. It is easy to read, yet provides an amazing amount of valuable, up-to-date information. I recommend it highly for persons with mental illnesses, their friends and family members, as well as for mental health professionals, particularly those in training.” — Frederick J. Frese, PhD, Associate Professor, Psychiatry Department, Northeast Ohio Medical University, and former 1st Vice President, National Alliance on Mental Illness

“If you are considering taking medications, Diamond provides the most concise, comparative, up-to-date, and clearly organized compendium that I have ever seen for mental health consumers and carers. It is also an edifying read for clinicians who need a humane guide or eloquent reminder about how to talk with sensitivity to clientele and families about the potential role, virtues, and pitfalls of taking medications.” — Professor Alan Rosen, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Centre for Rural & Remote Mental Health, University of Newcastle