The 8th edition of the classic textbook, Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry, has been published, written by the late Harold I. Kaplan, M.D., and Benjamin J. Sadock, M.D., of New York Univeristy School of Medicine.
Since the textbook was published 25 years ago, it has become the "bible of psychiatry," used by most U.S. medical schools, psychiatric residency programs and training centers in social work, psychology and nursing.
Dr. Sadock is Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, and Dr. Kaplan was Professor of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine. Together they have published more than 50 books in their field. Dr. Robert Cancro, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at NYU served as senior contributing editor to the new edition of Synopsis of Psychiatry.
The 8th edition of the book features a lot of new information. "What's unique about this edition is that it speaks out forcefully on sociopolitical issues such as physican-assisted suicide, euthanasia and the effects of managed care on psychiatry," says Dr. Sadock.
There are updated sections discussing the newest developments in neurochemistry, neurophysiology, brain imaging and behavioral genetics. "Neurasthenia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" and "Alternative Medicine and Psychiatry" are new chapters relevant to current psychiatric theory and practice. The "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" section now includes a discussion of the Persian Gulf War syndrome.
"Synopsis has had the reputation of being a consistent, accurate, objective and reliable chronicle of new events in the field of psychiatry for over a quarter of a century," says Dr. Sadock. "The next edition, scheduled to be published in 2002, will take us into the millennium."
Published by Williams & Wilkins, the book has been translated into many languages, and the 8th edition is being published simultaneously in French and Italian.