My first reaction on receiving my copy of the Clinical Handbook of Schizophrenia was surprise at the heavy thud with which it landed on my desk. This is not a handbook in the sense of a compact reference or vade mecum. It is a full-size, hardback tome that will belong on a desk or bookshelf rather than in a bag or briefcase.
The book is essentially a collection of 61 concise literature reviews, divided into eight broad areas and authored by more than a hundred contributors, many of them world experts in their fields. It is probably not intended to be read from cover to cover, and in doing so I encountered several areas of repetition and a few inconsistencies, but in general the book is well edited. Each chapter is written in a clear, simple style, with a minimum of jargon and sparse references, followed by a useful summary of key points and a list of recommended further reading. It is an excellent format and it works well.
The first and largest of the eight sections, on core science and background information, is succinct, factual and up to date, with excellent summaries of epidemiology, genetics, biological and social aetiological factors. This is followed by sections on assessment, diagnosis and somatic treatments that again cover familiar ground, although the coverage of pharmacological treatments is rather brief. That said, the book's forte is in its comprehensive discussion of psychological and social aspects of treatment and service delivery, areas which are often neglected in psychiatric textbooks. I appreciated the opportunity to fill the (sometimes yawning) gaps in my own knowledge on such topics as cognitive remediation, illness self-management strategies, environmental supports and the recovery movement, as well as more familiar but still relatively recent developments such as cognitive–behavioural therapy for psychosis. The final sections cover special topics, including stigma, sexual functioning, comorbidity, physical health, and schizophrenia in children and the elderly.
The editors have clearly made an effort to include international authors, but the book retains a predominantly US perspective. This obviously limits the usefulness to British readers of some of the chapters, such as those on involuntary commitment or the US jail system, but there are other areas where relevant non-US research seems to have been overlooked. For example, it was disappointing that the chapter on rates of psychosis in African Americans made no reference to the extensive research conducted in Black British populations. Another notable omission was any significant discussion of the possible role of cannabis in inducing or precipitating psychosis.
Overall, however, the editors have succeeded in their objective to produce a collection of accessible and concise reviews on a comprehensive variety of clinical topics, particularly the social and psychological aspects of schizophrenia care.
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