The Perspectives of Psychiatry

Substantially revised to include a wealth of new material, the second edition of this highly acclaimed work provides a concise, coherent introduction that brings structure to an increasingly fragmented and amorphous discipline. Paul R. McHugh and Phillip R. Slavney offer an approach that emphasizes psychiatry's unifying concepts while accommodating its diversity. Recognizing that there may never be a single, all-encompassing theory, the book distills psychiatric practice into four explanatory methods: diseases, dimensions of personality, goal-directed behaviors, and life stories. These perspectives, argue the authors, underlie the principles and practice of all psychiatry. With an understanding of these fundamental methods, readers will be equipped to organize and evaluate psychiatric information and to develop a confident approach to practice and research.

Praise for the original edition:

"This brilliant book illuminates psychiatry more clearly than any other work I know.... This is the best (and the shortest) single volume on psychiatry that anyone could read." -- New England Journal of Medicine

"Every psychiatry department, regardless of ideology, should build a course around this... work. Open-mindedness might become fashionable." -- Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

"An elegantly reasoned and eloquently written book that enriches our understanding of clinical events.... [It provides] an opportunity to open our eyes to new possibilities." -- Hospital and Community Psychiatry

Paul R. McHugh, M.D., is Henry Phipps Professor and Director in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Phillip R. Slavney, M.D., is Eugene Meyer III Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.