Lexicon of Psychiatry Neurology and The Neurosciences, 2nd Edition

It is difficult to stifle enthusiasm and admiration when opening this book. With more than 1060 pages containing more than 10,000 items starting with ‘ABA design’ and ending with ‘zygote’, this lexicon achieves the nearly impossible — to cover virtually every important facet of infor mation a practicing psychiatrist will ever need and more. The r eader can find everything from rar e psychopathological definitions to major neuropsychiatric concepts and an exhaustive list of psychopharmacological terms. A concise description of psychiatric drug interactions is one of the many strengths of the lexicon, for example, ‘clozapine’ is discussed in 37 pages with mini essays on ‘clozapine plus phenytoin’, ‘clozapine plus paroxitene’, ‘clozapine plus rifampin’, or ‘clozapine plus fluvoxamine/ parotid gland swelling’ just to mention a few of the gems. Each item is carefully referenced and up to date. The layout of the book is logical, items are easy to find, and the text is crystal clear and reads smoothly. This book serves the student, the junior doctor, the experienced clinician, and the researcher equally well. Everyone working in psychiatry and the neurosciences needs this book on his/her desk.

There is probably only one person who could compile a lexicon of this magnitude: Dr Frank Ayd, Jr. Younger generations of psychiatrists may not be familiar with his name although he is one of the founding fathers of psychopharmacology who is still productive after more than 50 years in psychiatric practice and research. He is the author of more than 400 papers and over 50 books. Dr Ayd is also the founder and editor of his own jour nal — the International Drug Therapy Newsletter.

This reviewer has simple advice. If you consider buying only one book in the coming few years, this should be the one, being by far the best value for money. Rush out and purchase it today — do it while stocks last.

Dr Gabor S Ungvari
Associate Professor
Department of Psychiatry
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China.

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