Shared care in mental health covers the broad spectrum of psychiatric disorders encountered by the primary care physician. It has been written to provide practical solutions to assist in the management of the common health problems seen in primary care. Shared care means not only care shared between primary and secondary care but also refers to utilizing the skills of the non-medical members of the primary healthcare team. This handbook is easy to read and user friendly and is designed to be 'dipped into' when faced with a problem in daily practice. It is problem-solving orientated and offers sensible, pragmatic and practical advice. The book is structured around the treatment of particular patient groups, for example, the depressed patient, the anxious patient, the patient with insomnia. Each treatment covers the following areas: epidemiology; recognition and diagnosis; management in primary care; when to refer and what to expect from secondary services. Equal attention is given to drug treatments, not only what to prescribe but also how to improve compliance, and psychological treatments. Case reports are included to illustrate the application of treatment techniques, and may be used for teaching purposes. This book has been written by a team who understands GPs, general practice and then psychiatry. The emphasis throughout the book is to provide the General Practitioner with practical and specific help in the management of mental health problems.
