Delusional Disorder

Delusional disorder, once termed paranoia, was an important diagnosis in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and only in 1987 was it reintroduced into modern psychiatric diagnosis after being subsumed with schizophrenia. This book provides a comprehensive review of delusional disorder for psychiatrists and other clinicians. Beginning with the emergence of the concept of delusional disorder, the book goes on to detail its manifold presentations, differential diagnosis and treatment. Many instructive case histories are provided, illustrating manifestations of the various subtypes of delusional disorder, and related conditions in the paranoid spectrum. This is the most wide-ranging and authoritative text on the subject to have appeared for many years, and the first to suggest, based on the author's extensive experience, that the category of delusional disorder should contain not one but several conditions. It also emphasizes that, contrary to traditional belief, delusional disorder is a treatable illness.

The new edition of this popular handbook has been thoroughly updated to include the latest data concerning treatment of first-episode patients. Drawing from their experience, the authors discuss the presentation and assessment of the first psychotic episode and review the appropriate use of antipsychotic agents and psychosocial approaches in effective management. This is an authoritative text written by a team of highly respected authors for psychiatrists, neurologists, primary care practitioners and health care professional working in psychiatry. Drawing from their experience, the presentation and assessment of the first psychotic episode are discussed, details regarding antipsychotic drugs and their appropriate use are reviewed and psychosocial approaches are examined. The resulting book offers a concise and valuable guide to those wishing to review the latest proposals for the treatment of first-episode psychosis supported by up-to-date references, in a single publication.

Ideal for any student or health care professional who needs an authoritative text that is sharply focused on clinical psychiatry, this book contains the most relevant clinical material from the bestselling "Kaplan and Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry, 10th Edition" and includes updated information on recently introduced psychiatric drugs.

This book covers the whole spectrum of delusional syndromes, which may be presented either as autonomous disorders or as symptoms of other major psychotic disorders. Some of them are rather common and can be seen by every clinician in various nations and cultures. Others are rare or culture-related with higher prevalence in some cultures and lower in some others. Exact clinical descriptions of the syndromes are accompanied by a detailed picture of their longitudinal course and prognosis. Numerous studies on and approaches to therapy are presented and practical recommendations are given. This book not only discusses the results of modern scientific work but also goes back to the roots and provides valuable information from the original historical literature from English as well as German and French speaking countries. It abandons some myths on this topic and illustrates the clinical reality of this fascinating group of psychiatric disorders.

The first comprehensive account of delusions, the forms they take clinically and the mysteries behind what causes them.

Whatever happened to the grit of American work ethic, the display of manners, stewardship for our neighbors and respect for others? It is vanishing at an unconscionable rate and leaving behind an ever-growing population of people who place self-centeredness, greed, and a perception of entitlement all wrapped up together in a toxic mass that is strangling the spirit of America. Delusional Entitlement Disorder explores stories that reflect its damage, accounts of those who have avoided such a malignant attitude and offers advice as to how to avoid the growth of such a phenomenon within the family, community and nation.

The authors offer cogent reviews of the literature pertaining to the formation and maintenance of delusions, but the most substantial parts of the monograph expound the empirical inquiries which they and their colleagues have carried out in recent years. Most of the research has been published elsewhere, but such is the relevance of the experiments cited to the whole schema that the monograph has unique value. It is a synthesis which portrays the contribution to date of cognitive science to the biology and psychopathology of delusional thinking, and convincingly demonstrates that this way of looking at things has a considerable future. There are important implications for therapy as well as for hypothesis formulation. The monograph is attractively written, and the authors present their claims with exemplary modesty. The whole tenor of their approach gives weight to the conviction that here we have a story that must be taken seriously. It is a significant book, and I warmly commend it to all those with an interest in the future of psychopathology, and especially to psychiatrists who wish to advance their understanding of mental states and avoid stagnating with outworn dogma." - Robert Cawley, University of London in British Journal of Psychiatry Delusions are a key symptom of psychosis and yet there is no single book which considers delusions from a psychological perspective. In part this is because the syndrome of schizophrenia has captured the attention of many workers, and in part because delusions, as private mental phenomena, are not well suited to purely behavioural or observational methods of enquiry. For the past two decades, however, cognitive psychology has been in its ascendancy and delusions, as beliefs, are particularly amenable to investigation applying cognitive concepts and methods. Within this framework, it is possible to consider continuities between delusional and ordinary beliefs, as well as to seek to identify differences. This book, therefore, uniquely presents a psychological model of delusions, employing the neglected strategy of single symptom research and the tools of cognitive psychology

This is the definitive source for all practising psychiatrists. It covers all areas of general psychiatry in depth, and includes sections on each of the subspecialties including child psychiatry and forensic psychiatry.