A Short Textbook of Psychiatry

It is rather humbling to consider that it has been two decades that the Short Textbook of Psychiatry has enjoyed a wide distribution among the undergraduate medical students, interns, junior residents, postgraduate psychiatry students, nursing students, psychology and psychiatric social work students, occupational therapy and physiotherapy students, general medical practitioners, other physicians and health professionals in India and some other countries. I am really indebted to the many astute readers who have provided a very constructive and useful feedback, along with encouraging comments regarding the existing format and the contents of the book.
The seventh edition of the Short Textbook of Psychiatry has been once again extensively revised and updated. Significant changes have been made in almost all the chapters, especially in chapters on diagnosis and classification, psychoactive substance use disorders, psychopharmacology, schizophrenia, mood disorders and other biological methods of treatment. Coloured-shaded boxes have been added at various places in the text to highlight the important points in tables and figures. The chapter on psychiatric history and examination
contains a summary of laboratory tests in psychiatry, in additions to other significant changes. The appendices have been revised and contain a glossary of common psychiatric terms.
The Short Textbook of Psychiatry sincerely hopes to retain its original aim of providing a brief yet comprehensive account of the psychiatric disorders and their allied aspects in a ‘user-friendly’ and ‘easy-to-follow’ manner.