Author(s):  Leo Sher, MD(editor)  Isack Kandel, PhD(editor) Joav Merrick, MD (editor)

Publisher Link: Trafford Publishing

Date: July 2007

Alcohol use is associated with suicide risk. It plays two different roles. Ongoing alcohol use disorders can contribute to suicide risk by effects on mood and impulsive-aggressive traits. Acute alcohol consumption at the time of a suicide attempt can have a disinhibiting effect. Epidemiological, clinical, and neurobiological aspects of suicidal behavior in individuals with alcohol use disorders are discussed in this book.

Author(s):  Myrna M. Weissman, Ph.D.  John C. Markowitz, M.D.  Gerald L. Klerman, M.D.

Publisher Link: Oxford University Press

Date: 2007

A focused pocket manual for clinicians interested in applying interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) in their practices. This book describes IPT for major depression and adaptations for other mood and non-mood diagnoses.

Author(s):  Milton L. Wainberg, M.D.  Jack Drescher, M.D. Andrew Kolodny, M.D.

Publisher Link: The Haworth Press, Incorporated

Date: 2007

Could crystal meth use in the gay community be responsible for a resurgence in the AIDS epidemic?

According to recent studies, gay men who use crystal methamphetamine were twice as likely to have unprotected sex as those who did not — and more than three times as likely to be HIV-positive. Crystal Meth and Men Who Have Sex with Men is an unflinching look at this dangerous threat to the gay community, addressing the health and mental health needs of “Tina” users who are lost in a downward spiral of addiction and high-risk sexual behaviors. This vital book is the product of a unique collaboration between the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and researchers, clinicians, and community activists.

Crystal Meth and Men Who Have Sex with Men contains the published proceedings of two important community events that took place in 2004 in New York City—“The Crystal Meth-HIV Connection: A Public Forum with Harvey Fierstein” and “Crystal Methamphetamine: Understanding and Treatment an Emerging Health Crisis.” Each article—whether drawn from personal account, research study, or online survey—reinforces the reality for the gay community that wherever crystal meth is, increases in sexual risk behaviors for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are sure to follow. This powerful book will help you to identify, approach, and treat clients who use meth, examing the physical, medical, and psychological effects and consequences of its widespread abuse.

Author(s):  Eric R. Kandel   

Publisher Link: W.W. Norton & Company

Date: March, 2007

This singular book by Austrian-born Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel interweaves two strands: First, the narrative of his own life; and second, the story of his breakthrough research on memory. In Search of Memory describes how the findings of several disciplines (behaviorist psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology) converged to form a new science of mind.

Author(s):  D Peter Birkett MD

Publisher Link: The Haworth Press, Inc.

Date: February, 2008

This standard text has been brought completely up-to-date and slightly shortened. It is written from the point of view of an actively practicing clinical psychiatrist but fully covers all the relevant aspects of neurology, geriatrics, psychology and sociology. As well as such standard topics as dementia, depression and aphasia it covers such things as dizziness, the factors involved in seeking early treatment, the diagnostic dilemmas of headache, sexual dysfunction and antisocial behaviors. An appendix contains a fascinating account of the cases of Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Hitler.

Author(s):  Robert Klitzman

Publisher Link: Oxford University Press

Date: October, 2007

For many doctors, their role as powerful healer precludes thoughts of ever getting sick themselves. When they do, it initiates a profound shift of awareness-- not only in their sense of their selves, which is invariably bound up with the "invincible doctor" role, but in the way that they view their patients and the doctor-patient relationship. While some books have been written from first-person perspectives on doctors who get sick-- by Oliver Sacks among them-- and TV shows like "House" touch on the topic, never has there been a "systematic, integrated look" at what the experience is like for doctors who get sick, and what it can teach us about our current health care system and more broadly, the experience of becoming ill.

The psychiatrist Robert Klitzman here weaves together gripping first-person accounts of the experience of doctors who fall ill and see the other side of the coin, as a patient. The accounts reveal how dramatic this transformation can be-- a spiritual journey for some, a radical change of identity for others, and for some a new way of looking at the risks and benefits of treatment options. For most however it forever changes the way they treat their own patients. These questions are important not just on a human interest level, but for what they teach us about medicine in America today. While medical technology advances, the health care system itself has become more complex and frustrating, and physician-patient trust is at an all-time low. The experiences offered here are unique resource that point the way to a more humane future.