Overview

This manual attempts to provide simple, adequate and evidence-based information to health care professionals in primary health care especially in low- and middle-income countries to be able to provide pharmacological treatment to persons with mental disorders. The manual contains basic principles of prescribing followed by chapters on medicines used in psychotic disorders; depressive disorders; bipolar disorders; generalised anxiety and sleep disorders; obsessive-compulsive disorders and panic attacks; and alcohol and opioid dependence.

This manual is a reference source to assist physicians working in the primary health care through increasing their knowledge and improving their routine clinical practice in using medicines for mental disorders. It is though a reference source about pharmacological treatments only, and does not cover the overall management of mental disorders.

It is hoped that use of this manual will enhance the knowledge and competence of those health professionals who are at the forefront of health care delivery in resource poor health systems. This will facilitate much needed scaling-up services for person with mental, neurological and substance use disorders envisaged in mental health Gap Action Programme of the World Health Organization.

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Essential medicines for mental disorders
• Chapter 2. Basic principles of prescribing
• Chapter 3. Medicines used in psychotic disorders
  • 1 Definition of psychotic disorders
  • 2 Preliminary assessment and initial management strategies
  • 3 Short-term treatment with antipsychotics
  • 4 Long-term treatment with antipsychotics
  • 5 Administration of antipsychotics
  • 6 Adverse reactions of antipsychotics
  • 7 Overdosage of antipsychotics
  • 8 Special patient populations
  • 9 Potentially relevant interactions
  • 10 Essential medicines for psychotic disorders
• Chapter 4. Medicines used in depressive disorders
  • 1 Definition of depressive disorders
  • 2 Preliminary assessment and initial management strategies
  • 3 Short-term treatment with antidepressants
  • 4 Long-term treatment with antidepressants
  • 5 Administration of antidepressants
  • 6 Adverse reactions of antidepressants
  • 7 Overdosage of antidepressants
  • 8 Special patient populations
  • 9 Potentially relevant interactions
  • 10 Essential medicines for depressive disorders
• Chapter 5. Medicines used in bipolar disorders
  • 1 Definition of bipolar disorders
  • 2 Preliminary assessment and initial management strategies
  • 3 Short-term treatment with antimanic medicines
  • 4 Long-term treatment with antimanic medicines
  • 5 Administration of antimanic medicines
  • 6 Adverse reactions of antimanic medicines
  • 7 Overdosage of antimanic medicines
  • 8 Special patient populations
  • 9 Potentially relevant interactions
  • 10 Essential medicines for bipolar disorders
• Chapter 6. Medicines used in generalized anxiety and sleep disorders
  • 1 Definition of generalized anxiety and sleep disorders
  • 2 Preliminary assessment and initial management strategies
  • 3 Short-term treatment with benzodiazepines
  • 4 Long-term treatment with benzodiazepines
  • 5 Administration of benzodiazepines
  • 6 Adverse reactions of benzodiazepines
  • 7 Overdosage of benzodiazepines
  • 8 Special patient populations
  • 9 Potentially relevant interactions
  • 10 Essential medicines for generalized anxiety and sleep disorders
• Chapter 7. Medicines used in obsessive-compulsive disorders and panic attacks
  • 1 Definition of obsessive-compulsive disorders and panic attacks
  • 2 Preliminary assessment and initial management strategies
  • 3 Short-term treatment with antidepressants
  • 4 Long-term treatment with antidepressants
  • 5 Administration of antidepressants
  • 6 Adverse reactions of antidepressants
  • 7 Overdosage of antidepressants
  • 8 Special patient populations
  • 9 Potentially relevant interactions
  • 10 Essential medicines for obsessive-compulsive and panic disorders
• Chapter 8. Medicines used in alcohol and opioid dependence
  • 1 Definition of alcohol and opioid dependence
  • 2 Preliminary assessment and initial management strategies
  • 3 Short-term treatment (management of alcohol withdrawal, Wernicke-Korsokoff syndrome and commencement of relapse prevention medication for alcohol dependence)
  • 4 Short-term treatment (management of opioid withdrawal and commencement of agonist maintenance treatment)
  • 5 Long-term treatment
  • 6 Administration
  • 7 Adverse reactions
  • 8 Overdosage
  • 9 Special patient populations
  • 10 Potentially relevant interactions
  • 11 Essential medicines for opioid dependence
• Chapter 9. Essential references and source documents
• Spanish

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