Suicide is a source of endless disquiet. One of the few fatal consequences of psychiatric illness, it is a threat to patients, and a vexation to therapists that puts clinical judgment to the ultimate test. It arouses countertransference reactions of unusual intensity-helplessness and guilt when the suicide is successful; anxiety and anger when it is used as a manipulative tool. For as Samuel Johnson was aware when he com- mented that many "commit suicide, as a passionate man will stab an- other," it is not only an escape from hopeless despair but an expression of the most violent rage. To all...

In the eight years since the publication of the second edition of this Guide, psycho- phannacotherapy has made many advances not only through the discovery of new medications but by the effective directing of their use to an ever-increasing variety of clinical disorders. These welcome developments are reflected in the concurrent growth and development of the Guide itself, which now enters adulthood with renewed vigor. Under the thoughtful and scholarly leadership of Dr. Alan Gelenberg, the third edition has undergone a significant transformation designed to meet the needs of the modem...

Books, like people, are born, and, if they survive the trauma of birth, mature in response to a changing environment. This volume is no exception. It imme- diately proved its usefulness to psychiatric clinicians upon its publication six years ago, and it is not surprising to find it now entering a new phase of life in a second edition. The many and significant changes that the reader will find herein reflect not only the rapid growth of knowledge in the field of psy- chopharmacology but also the editors' wise awareness of the need to incorpo- rate that knowledge into clinical practice....