Four years in the making, this entirely revised edition of a classic text provides a lucid and erudite review of the state of psychiatry today. Since the publication of the last edition in 1988, remarkable advances have been made in laboratory and clinical psychiatric research; the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) has been published; managed care has radically altered the provision of all medical care; and the profession of psychiatry has come to a sophisticated new understanding of the interplay between psychiatric knowledge and issues in the larger society.

All these changes are reflected in the new text. Of particular interest are the masterful and lucid reviews of current knowledge in the neurobiology of mental disorders, in the section on brain and behavior. The section on psychopathology clarifies newly emerging diagnostic categories and offers new insight into addictions, anxiety disorders, and disorders of cognition.

Like its predecessors, The Harvard Guide To Psychiatry focuses throughout on the relationship between the physician and the patient. Its unspoken motto is that the art of psychiatry is as important as the science. For this recognition of what is relevant clinically as well as technically, this book will be an essential reference and support for both the new and the experienced psychiatrist.

This new edition includes up-to-date discussions of:

• DSM-IV
• Managed care
• Improvements in neuroimaging
• The increased use of psychoactive drugs
• Recent advances in molecular biology
• Research on the biology of schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and addictive disorders

Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., M.D., serves on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School and the staff of the Massachusetts General Hospital. His research has focused on late adolescence, and his investigation of college dropouts is the first large-scale epidemological study of that age group.