This concise volume advises primary care physicians on how to recognize, evaluate, and treat common psychiatric and neurologic complaints in patients with medical illness. Patients with these problems used to be referred to specialists, but under the current system of health care they are increasingly being evaluated and treated by internists and family practitioners.
The book contains twelve problem-focused chapters, each written by a specialist faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who is experienced in consulting with primary care physicians. The problems discussed are sadness, nervousness, forgetfulness, unrealistic concerns about health, suicidal thoughts, alcoholism and drug dependence, weakness, numbness, back pain, headaches, dizziness, and tremor. Screening evaluations for psychiatric and neurologic disorders are also outlined and explained.
The book is designed to serve as both an introduction and a convenient reference. The authors emphasize improving communication with patients about issues of diagnosis and treatment.
Table of Contents:
Part I. Psychiatric Problems
Chapter 1. Screening Psychiatric Evaluation, Karin J. Neufeld
Chapter 2. Sadness, John R. Lipsey
Chapter 3. Nervousness, Michael R. Clark
Chapter 4. Forgetfulness, Peter V. Rabins
Chapter 5. Unrealistic Concerns about Health, Mark L. Teitelbaum
Chapter 6. Suicidal Thoughts, Dean F. MacKinnon
Chapter 7. Dependence on Alcohol or Drugs, Alan J. Romanoski
Part II. Neurological Problems
Chapter 8. Screening Neurological Evaluation, Orest Hurko
Chapter 9. Weakness, Richard O'Brien
Chapter 10. Numbness or Tingling, Vinay Chaudry
Chapter 11. Back Pain, John Dean Rybock
Chapter 12. Headaches, David W. Buchholz
Chapter 13. Dizzy Spells, Peter W. Kaplan
Chapter 14. Tremor, Stephen G. Reich
About the Author :
Phillip R. Slavney, M.D., is Eugene Meyer III Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the author of Psychiatric Dimensions of Medical Practice and coauthor of The Perspectives of Psychiatry, both available from Johns Hopkins University Press. Orest Hurko, M.D., is an associate professor of neurology, neurological surgery, medicine, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Review :
This excellent, concise book is a practical, easy to use resource for the busy primary care physician. It compares favorably with any short overview presentation of psychiatric or neurologic symptoms.
—Doody's Health Sciences Review
A very informative text that does an excellent job of introducing to some and presenting to others effective approaches to psychiatric and neurological symptoms.
—M. Ojinga HarrisonMDDuke University Medical Center, Journal of Pscychosomatic Research
