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Chapter 7 - General Aspects of Psychopharmacology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2025

By
Grace S. Pham  and
Sanjay J. Mathew
Edited by
Marsal Sanches  and
Jair C. Soares
Marsal Sanches
Affiliation:
McGovern Medical School, Texas
Jair C. Soares
Affiliation:
McGovern Medical School, Texas
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Summary

Psychopharmacology is an integral component of psychiatric treatment and entails the selection, initiation, switching, discontinuation, and possible augmentation of psychotropic medications, as well as monitoring and assessment of symptom improvement. The choice of psychiatric medications should be tailored to a patient’s specific diagnosis, as well as their medical history and other psychiatric comorbidities. Side effects and therapeutic benefit should be assessed early on in treatment, in the event that a patient may benefit from a different medication in the same class, or from a medication with a different mechanism of action. Informed consent and patient education are paramount to ensuring that medication management is a collaborative effort between patient and provider. Safety, adherence, and polypharmacy are also important considerations when it comes to adjusting a psychotropic regimen over time. Advances in psychopharmacology include the potential use of pharmacogenetics as well as compounds such as psychedelics and the repurposing of existing medications.

Keywords

pharmacologyprescribingaugmentationpolypharmacypharmacogenetics
Type
Chapter
Information
Fundamentals of Clinical Psychiatry
A Practical Handbook
 , pp. 50 - 63
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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