We have arranged this review text in an order that makes clinical sense. We have assumed that the student has had considerable experience with the field of psychiatry via didactic courses, clinical rotations or both. The first chapter is an introduction to psychiatry, noting significant persons and events in the growth of the field. Chapter two focuses on general diagnostic categories and the major intervention strategies that are used in the field. Chapter three presents patient management in detail so that in the later chapters, as disorders are being pre- sented, the student can have the management strategies clearly in mind. Chapters four through twelve review each of the major psychiatric disorders in detail and provide suggestions regarding the etiology and appropriate treatment of the disorder. Chapter thirteen focuses on the special problems of children. That is, while children can have most of the same disorders as adults, there are disor- ders that are diagnosed in childhood that are different from those of adults. Chapter fourteen focuses on special issues in the practice of psychiatry such as sleep issues, forensic psychiatry, AIDS, etc. Chapter fifteen is devoted to psychiat- ric emergencies in both adults and children. This is a review text and should not be substituted for more complete texts. The authors do not recommend that this book be used as a course text except in those academic offerings that are specifically directed to an overview of psychiatry.
