Articles
and Newsletters
I write newsletters and articles on mental-health topics. You'll find a
complete list of my writings on this page, as well as a complete list
of reviews of my book. Check here often often for new additions.
Bipolar
Disorder: An Illness of Excess. Reprinted at BellaOnline.
EMDR: A Remarkable Treatment
for Trauma. Reprinted at BellaOnline.
Psychosis and
Schizophrenia: Whose Reality is this, Anyway? Reprinted
at BellaOnline.
ECT: The Method of Last Resort.
Reprinted at BellaOnline.
Why won't they Believe I'm Ill? Reprinted at BellaOnline.
Anosognosia: The Most Devastating Symptom of Mental Illness.
Diagnosis: A Misunderstood Word
Beyond Diagnosis: Time for a New Paradigm
Newsletters
MentalMeds News:
Issue 1
MentalMeds News:
Issue 2
MentalMeds News:
Issue 3
MentalMeds News:
Issue 4
MentalMeds News:
Issue 5
MentalMeds News:
Issue 6
MentalMeds News: Issue 7
MentalMeds News: Issue 8
MentalMeds News: Issue 9
MentalMeds News: Issue 10
MentalMeds News: Issue 11
Reviews
Kirkus Discoveries
A straightforward guide to mental disorders and the drugs that treat them.
In
one brief volume, Thompson has gathered an amount of data it would take
days to locate on the Web. The author, a physicist "who has an interest
in medical treatments for mental illness," according to his biography,
gives a tutorial on brain chemistry, then lists some psychiatric
diagnoses (the various types of depression, psychosis, schizophrenia)
and the medications usually prescribed to treat those disorders.
The
book has helpful charts and lists that clearly designate drug chemical
names, brand names, on- and off-label uses and common side effects. It
also includes the pros and cons for each substance, as well as
dangerous symptoms and interactions to watch out for. Particularly nice
is the directory of websites, both official and quirky, where
psychiatric patients and their friends and families can find reliable
information and support.
Thompson’s
candid writing about the most dreaded of side effects, sexual
dysfunction, takes this sensitive subject out of the shadows,
presenting it as a surmountable challenge.
The
author makes a point of stating that he is not a medical doctor, and
that MDs are not technically scientists, in the sense that they do
little research. While they may be "competent to treat" patients, MDs
don’t often have what Thompson calls a "deep knowledge of psychotropic
medications."
Like
any good scientist, Thompson is an accumulator of data, and his
research is methodical. If there is a weak point to this book, it is
the lack of a nuanced approach to psychotropics and the accompanying
therapies that develop from experience, observation and work with real
patients--the part of psychiatric treatment that is as much art as it
is science. Still, Thompson has written a meticulous book,
well-organized and indexed, that would be useful to those suffering
from mental illness.
A systematic yet approachable view of mental illness and the drugs used to treat it.
The PsyWorld.com
review by Mike Briley has this to say:
"...For
those with a practical interest in psychotropic medication such as
patients, their families and carers this book is a very convenient
"first stop" in understanding treatment with psychotropic medication.
For non-specialist health professionals it is a useful reference for
filling in the gaps in their knowledge and keeping up with this rapidly
moving area. For the health professional specialising in psychotropic
therapy it can be useful as an educational tool for recommending to
their patients and thus increasing their complicity."
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