David Semple

Roger Smyth

Jonathan Burns

Rajan Darjee

Andrew McIntosh

The Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry is a new book directed at medical students, doctors coming to psychiatry for the first time, psychiatric trainees, and other professionals who may have to deal with patients with psychiatric problems. It is written by a group of experienced, middle-grade psychiatrists and is designed to provide easy access to the information required by psychiatry trainees on the wards or on-call. It closely follows the familiar format of the other Oxford Handbooks, and provides coverage that is comprehensive, evidence based and practical. The content of the handbook is written in the concise, note-based style characteristic of the series, with topics confined to single pages. The book is divided into four sections: Fundamentals of Psychiatric Practice; General Adult Psychiatry; Psychiatric Subspecialties; and Useful Reference Material. Within each chapter, topics are covered in a clear logical manner. For the clinical disorders there is detailed information on the etiology, epidemiology, clinical features, common differential diagnoses, assessment/investigation, management, and prognosis. There is an in-depth coverage of psychiatric assessment, psychopathology, evidence-based practice, mental health legislation in the UK, therapeutic issues, transcultural psychiatry, and eponyms in psychiatry. The book is internally cross-referenced and has both key references to important papers and to further information resources. As well as being indexed alphabetically, it is also indexed by ICD-10/DSM-IV codes, and there is a quick index for acute presentations. This Handbook is practical and directive in style, designed to provide portable reassurance to doctors beginning psychiatry. There is helpful advice for the management of difficult and urgent situations, and the text is peppered with clinical observations on the practice of clinical psychiatry and guidance based upon the experience of the authors.

Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry

Drawing on evidence from across the behavioural and natural sciences, this book advances a radical new hypothesis: that madness exists as a costly consequence of the evolution of a sophisticated social brain in Homo sapiens. Having explained the rationale for an evolutionary approach to psychosis, the author makes a case for psychotic illness in our living ape relatives, as well as in human ancestors. He then reviews existing evolutionary theories of psychosis, before introducing his own thesis: that the same genes causing madness are responsible for the evolution of our highly social brain. Jonathan Burns' novel Darwinian analysis of the importance of psychosis for human survival provides some meaning for this form of suffering. It also spurs us to a renewed commitment to changing our societies in a way that allows the mentally ill the opportunity of living. The Descent of Madness will be of interest to those in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, sociology and anthropology, and is also accessible to the general reader.

Evolutionary Origins of Psychosis and the Social Brain

The Descent of Madness

Jane Zion Brauer

Jane S. Zion

Designed for children with no prior knowledge of English to help them develop listening and speaking skills through conversations, songs, chants, stories, and games based on wordless illustrations featuring various Muppet characters.

Big Bird's Yellow Book

Community Psychiatrist Nelson Mandela School of Medicine Jonathan Burns

Drawing on evidence from across the behavioural and natural sciences, this book advances a radical new hypothesis: that madness exists as a costly consequence of the evolution of a sophisticated social brain in Homo sapiens. Having explained the rationale for an evolutionary approach to psychosis, the author makes a case for psychotic illness in our living ape relatives, as well as in human ancestors. He then reviews existing evolutionary theories of psychosis, before introducing his own thesis: that the same genes causing madness are responsible for the evolution of our highly social brain. Jonathan Burns’ novel Darwinian analysis of the importance of psychosis for human survival provides some meaning for this form of suffering. It also spurs us to a renewed commitment to changing our societies in a way that allows the mentally ill the opportunity of living. The Descent of Madness will be of interest to those in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, sociology and anthropology, and is also accessible to the general reader.

Jonathan Burns

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