Nash N. Boutros

Humanism is an optimistic philosophy that believes in the scientific process, human worth and dignity, and the ability of humankind to solve its problems no matter how complicated. "Humanist Psychiatry, 2nd Edition" is not about the practice of psychiatry, but rather about how the field is conceptualised, organised, and propelled forward. Despite the huge advances in the neurosciences in the last 30 to 40 years, the practice of psychiatry has remained stagnant except for a few newer and safer medications. This book is an outcry for all who care about human suffering in any form but particularly in the form of psychiatric disorders. The principle of worth and dignity does not place a price, nor take into consideration, the cost of taking care of human beings. Psychiatric disorders remain devastatingly widespread, under-recognised and under-treated worldwide. Psychiatric disorders are among the most common causes for disability and lost productivity. Psychiatric patients have lives that are 15 to 20 years shorter than mentally healthy populations. Advances in neuroscience research clearly and overwhelmingly point to the eventual unravelling of the mysteries of the brain. We, in psychiatry, cannot wait the decades it will take to fully understand the brain. The term "mental" embodies the duality of mind-brain or mental-physical. Doing away with this duality is our first step to burying stigma and relegating it to medical history. "Humanist Psychiatry" begins by summarising the humanist principles, then discusses how the biology principle should guide advances in psychiatric research and how psychiatry research could be organised. The book addresses issues of education and practice from a humanist's viewpoint. The book then goes into more specific areas of practice, like correctional and addiction psychiatry, discussing how practice adhering to the humanist principles would impact the field. The current edition of Humanist Psychiatry deals with controversial issues like drug legalisation and whether psychiatry should have its own school instead of being a branch of medicine. Finally, the book discusses the issue of stigma and how humanism can help speed up the dissipation of the stigma associated with psychiatric disorders. The 2nd edition of Humanist Psychiatry has widened its scope to address all professionals working in the field, such as social workers, psychologists and addiction therapists in addition to all those who care about the issue of psychiatric disorders from community organisers to legislators.

Now in its fourth edition, The Brain and Behavior introduces the field of neurobiology of human behavior to a wide audience, from graduate students to professionals in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and neurology. This comprehensive resource focuses on locating human behaviors to specific regions of the brain, aiming to make a complex topic visually accessible through the inclusion of clear and focused illustrations. This important new edition emphasises recent developments in our understanding of the human brain which have emerged from imaging studies. The text also features patient case histories with documented anatomical evidence, tying the science with actual clinical examples, making it the most accessible book for medical practitioners of all levels. The collaboration between a neuropsychiatrist, a behavioral neurologist, and a neuroanatomist has resulted in a book which synthesizes the complex and evolving information on the neurobiology of human behavior, and presents it in an eminently readable volume.

This volume is designed to serve as a reference source containing both historical and recent references with a special focus on the existing gaps of knowledge regarding EEG deviations in psychiatric populations. Every chapter begins by outlining the clinical issues, then reviews available literature and concludes by highlighting a) currently supportable findings, and b) open research questions. In some chapters the author makes suggestions regarding the research design that will most likely lead to generating data that can move the field towards resolving unresolved issues.

This volume is designed to serve as a reference source containing both historical and recent references with a special focus on the existing gaps of knowledge regarding EEG deviations in psychiatric populations. Every chapter begins by outlining the clinical issues, then reviews available literature and concludes by highlighting a) currently supportable findings, and b) open research questions. In some chapters the author makes suggestions regarding the research design that will most likely lead to generating data that can move the field towards resolving unresolved issues.

This book provides a concise overview of the possible clinical applications of standard EEG in clinical psychiatry. After a short history, the book describes the physiologic basis of the EEG signal, then reviews the principles of EEG in terms of technical backgrounds and requirements, EEG recording and signal analysis, with plentiful illustrations of the most frequent biological or technical artefacts. Normal EEG patterns and waveforms for easy reference are clearly presented, before the detailed description of abnormal patterns. With the basic information in hand, the reader progresses to an account of the role of EEG in the diagnostic work up in psychiatry, covering nonconvulsive status epilepticus, frontal lobe seizures and non-epileptic seizures. The clinical application of EEG in both childhood and adult disorders follows, including many case vignettes. The effects of psychotropic drugs on EEG are highlighted. The book closes with a discussion of currently available certification venues for Clinical Neurophysiology along with limitations of each venue. It calls for the development of training guidelines and certification processes specific to Psychiatric Electrophysiology. The material is clearly presented throughout, with plenty of figures, tables with summaries of relevant findings, flow diagrams for diagnostic work-up, boxes with learning points, and short lists of key references. We fully expect the book will become the standard teaching source for psychiatry residents and fellows, as well as a useful resource for practising psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. Praise for the book: "This distinguished group of editors has put together chapters that represent an excellent practical handbook on electroencephalography in clinical psychiatry, now a very important topic. I highly recommend it not only to psychiatrists, but also to anyone interested in neuroscience." John R. Hughes, DM (Oxon), MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology, University of Illinois Medical Center, at Chicago, Illinois, USA