The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7322 p621
23 October 2004

Vital resource for those managing the medicines of patients with mental illness

‘Psychotropic drug directory’, by Stephen Bazire. Pp vii+416. Price £24.99. Salisbury: Fivepin Publishing; 2003. ISBN 0 9544839 0 1

Samuel Johnson once said: “Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.” Steve Bazire’s ‘Psychotropic drug directory’ is a perfect resource for those searching for the second kind of knowledge. It manages to cram huge amounts of readily accessible referenced information into a pocket-sized form. This is the 10th edition of this well-known psychiatric text and the winning format of previous editions is kept intact.

The directory is divided into six sections: drug treatment options in psychiatric illnesses; selecting drugs, doses and preparations; psychotropics in problem areas; drug interactions; drug-induced psychiatric disorders; and a miscellaneous section covering areas such as the Mental Health Act and new drugs in psychiatry. Well over 1,000 references have been added to the current edition and particular attention has been paid to overhauling the selecting drugs, doses and preparations chapter, and the drug interactions and sexual side effects sections (now in an easy-to-use table format). Readers looking for treatment algorithms for psychiatric illness are best referred to other texts because the directory does exactly as it describes — it directs the reader to the full reference for further information they may need before making a treatment decision.

The new edition of the ‘Psychotropic drug directory’ is vital resource for all those involved in the management of medicines in patients with mental illness.


Anne Connolly

Anne Connolly is principal pharmacist medicines information at the Maudsley Hospital, London