Why do social workers need to know about mental health medications? How can social workers best assist clients who are taking medications? What is the social worker's role as part of the interdisciplinary health care team? Answering these questions and more, this comprehensive text discusses the major medications used to treat common mental health conditions and offers guidelines on how to best serve clients who are using them. This new edition provides guidance on many issues that social workers will encounter in practice, including identifying potentially dangerous drug interactions and adverse side effects; improving medication compliance; recognizing the warning signs of drug dependence; and understanding how psychopharmacology can work in conjunction with psychosocial interventions. Complete with case examples, assessment tools, and treatment plans, this book offers practical insight for social work students and social workers serving clients with mental health conditions. New to this edition are expanded discussions of child and adolescent disorders, engaging discussions of how new drugs are created, approved, and marketed, and a new glossary describing over 150 common medications and herbal remedies. Important Topics Discussed: Treatment of common mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and dementia Taking a comprehensive medication history Understanding medical terminology Avoiding drug misuse, dependence, and overdose

Written for social workers by a social worker, Mental Disorders, Medications, and Clinical Social Work discusses the etiology, epidemiology, assessment, and intervention planning for common mental disorders. Looking at disorders from an ecosystems perspective, Austrian goes beyond a linear classification approach and DSM-IV-TR categories and encourages social workers to analyze the internal and external environmental factors that contribute to a disorder's development. Austrian's discussion of effective intervention(s) for a particular client also stresses the importance of working with families in treating disorders. In addition to information on new medications, biochemical data on the causes of disease, and diagnostic tests, the revised third edition discusses therapies such as motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and dialectic.

Clear, comprehensive, and accessible, this textbook presents an overview of the contemporary American mental health system and its impact on clients and social workers. The failure of the system to provide quality care for the mentally ill is explored, including issues and policies that social workers face in accessing mental health care for their clients, while also discussing the ways in which social workers can improve the overall functioning of the system and promote the development and expansion of policy and practice innovations. This is the first textbook to examine the lack of understanding of the roots of mental illness, the challenges in classification of mental disorders for social workers, and difficult behavioral manifestations of mental illness. By looking at the flaws and disparities in the provision of mental health services, especially in relation to the criminal justice system and homelessness and mental illness, social work students will be able to apply policy and practice to improve mental health care in their everyday work. A focus on the lived experiences of the mentally ill and their families, along with the experiences of social workers, adds a unique, real-world perspective. Key Features: Delivers a clear and accessible overview and critique of social work in the broader context of mental health care in the US Reviews historical and current mental health policies, laws, and treatments, and assesses their impact on social services for the mentally ill Investigates racial and ethnic disparities in mental health provision Incorporates the experiences of people with mental illness as well as those of social workers Offers recommendations for future social work development of mental health policies and services Includes Instructors Manual with PowerPoint slides, chapter summaries and objectives, and discussion questions Addresses CSWE core competency requirements

This book provides an in-depth and very modern approach to clinical social work with clients in mental health settings. This is a revision of a book originally titled Clinical Social Work Practice in Community Mental Health. The "community mental health" approach is now dated, and this revision features "behavioral" mental health, which is a newer and "postmodern" approach. The postmodern perspective is client-oriented, and helps the practitioner to be aware of underlying biases. This perspective is explained in Chapter 1 and is included in every chapter by featuring clients' "voices," particularly at the beginning and end of the chapters. Important new topics include managed care and measurement of outcomes, both of which are woven throughout and featured in Chapters 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 13. For social work practitioners specializing in mental health.

"When a child is struggling with an emotional or behavioral problem, parents face many difficult decisions. Is medication the right choice? What about side effects? How long will medication be needed? In this authoritative guide, leading child psychiatrists Drs. Timothy Wilens and Paul Hammerness explain the nuts and bolts of psychiatric medications--from how they work and potential risks to their impact on a child's emotions, school performance, personality, and health. Extensively revised to include the latest information about medications and their uses, the fourth edition is even more accessible, and includes pullouts, bulleted lists, and "take home points" highlighting critical facts. In addition to parents, this is an ideal reference for teachers and other school professionals"--

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1 General Principles. 2 Depression. 3 Bipolar Illness. 4 Anxiety Disorders. 5 Psychotic Disorders. 6 Miscellaneous Disorders. 7 non-Response and "Breakthrough Symptoms" Algorithms. 8 Case Examples. App. A- History and personal Data Questionnaire. App. B- Special Cautions When Taking MAO Inhibitors.

A generation of social work students has benefited from Kia Bentley and Joseph Walsh’s practical approach to the social worker’s role in psychopharmacology. New coauthor Shannon Hughes brings even more fresh ideas to the updated Fifth Edition. Important updates include: • updated and expanded drug information and tables including names, typical dosages, potential adverse effects, as well as never-before-included FDA approval information • updated content on psychogenomics as well as added new content on medication use with sexual minorities and gender diverse people • more explicit criticisms of the chemical imbalance theory and the use of the term “anosognosia” • more comprehensive guidelines for talking to children, parents, and teachers about psychiatric medication • expanded content on shared decision-making, including a presentation on what we think “truth-telling” about medication looks like in the 21st century • explicit content on the centrality of avoiding both subtle and overt coercion • new section on medication discontinuation and “deprescribing” and the role of social work in supporting these trends • expanded section on prescription-writing privileges to account for the recognition of physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists in those roles • new section on the use of psychedelics in psychiatry • acknowledgement of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and telemedicine on the future of both social work and psychopharmacological practice • significantly increased attention to the human rights/social justice interface of social work and psychopharmacology

Prescribing Mental Health Medication is a text for practitioners who treat mental disorders with medication. It explains the entire process of medication assessment, management and follow up for general medical practitioners, mental health practitioners, students, residents, prescribing nurses and others perfecting this skill. Already used by providers and training institutions throughout the world, the newly revised second edition is completely updated and focuses on the following key issues: How to determine if medication is needed Proper dosing and how to start and stop medication When to change medication Dealing with difficult patients Specific mental health symptoms and appropriate medication Special populations including pregnant women, substance abusers, children and adolescents, and the elderly Monitoring medication with blood levels Management of medication side effects and avoidance of medication risk The misuse of medication Prescription of generic preparations Prescriptions via the Internet, telemedicine, and electronic medical records Organizing a prescriptive office and record-keeping Completely updated, this text includes information on all psychotropic medications in use in the United States and the United Kingdom. It incorporates clinical tips, sample dialogues for talking about medications to patients, and information specifically relevant in primary care settings.

Now in its fourth edition, "Basic Notes in Psychopharmacology" is a concise summary, in the form of notes, which gives the reader a quick and easy-to-use overview of the subject. This greatly expanded volume now covers all the major classes of drugs, and for each individual drug the principle mode of action, indications and adverse effects are provided. In addition, it now includes 35 peer-reviewed clinical vignettes, focussing on psychopharmacological treatments which play a major part in management. As a short and practical guide, it will be invaluable for junior hospital psychiatrists, general practitioners and medical students. Others, including psychiatric nurses, psychiatric social workers, psychiatric occupational therapists and clinical psychologists, will also find it extremely useful.