"Schizophrenia and Comorbid Conditions - Diagnosis and Treatment" lays the traditional diagnostic oversimplification of schizophrenia to rest once and for all. All schizophrenia patients are not the same. The editors of this groundbreaking work challenge the reductionist view of schizophrenia as a single unitary disorder, a view that has led many psychiatrists and mental health care professionals to overlook potentially important syndromes. Asserting that care of these patients should be managed on the basis of their individual clinical presentations, not just their categorical diagnosis, recognized experts in their specialties offer a fascinating array of topics. The book begins with an overview of associated psychiatric syndromes.
Additional chapters take an in-depth look at the extensive literature on depression in patients with schizophrenia, including differential diagnosis and treatment approaches; use case vignettes to illustrate the clinical management of schizophrenia with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and panic symptoms; review medical and surgical illness and pregnancy in patients with schizophrenia; discuss assessment and treatment of cognitive impairment in older patients with schizophrenia; present old and new approaches to treatment of aggressive behaviours and violence in patients with schizophrenia; and extensively review substance abuse in schizophrenia, with suggested practical approaches to assessing and treating the "dual-diagnosis" schizophrenia patient. Intended to help practitioners enhance their recognition of and and improve treatment for the large and often neglected and clinically challenging group of schizophrenia patients with comorbid conditions, this unique collection combines a wealth of clinical and research experience of enduring value to practitioners and researchers alike.