The Kaplan and Sadock series comes in a matryoshka dolls assortment of sizes. As the title implies, the Concise textbook is one of the briefer in the series. It is an abridgment of the larger volume, Kaplan & Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry, twelfth edition, a condensation of the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. The Synopsis covers both the behavioral sciences and the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders.

This book eliminates the behavioral science chapters and focuses on those chapters that are the most clinically relevant. We designed it to meet readers’ needs who require a compact but thorough clinical psychiatry coverage.

We also wrote this book to serve diverse professional groups: psychiatrists and nonpsychiatric physicians, medical students, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, and other mental health professionals, such as occupational and art therapists, among others.<?__anchored_object__ "ro_u2bbcins398"?><?__anchored_object__ "ro_u2bbcins399"?>

Our organization here follows the organization used in the Synopsis. Whenever we could, we grouped disorders syndromally. Thus, we first discuss the various depressive disorders’ phenomenology as a group before discussing diagnosis and, eventually, treatment. This approach was a strategic choice as much modern 

research no longer groups patients by clinical diagnoses, and many incorporate larger groupings: depressed patients or psychotic patients, for example. However, we did not over-reify our desire for organization and consistency, and in cases where the disorders within a chapter are fundamentally different, we include separate sections for each.

The overarching philosophy we bring to this work is that mental health is part of physical health, and one cannot discuss psychiatric disease except within the context of all medicine. Even the term “mind--body” seems obsolete and implying a divide that does not exist. We were frequently reminded of this as we edited during the COVID-19 pandemic and witnessed how a simple virus can wreak such havoc on the psyche of our patients, faculty, and trainees.

research no longer groups patients by clinical diagnoses, and many incorporate larger groupings: depressed patients or psychotic patients, for example. However, we did not over-reify our desire for organization and consistency, and in cases where the disorders within a chapter are fundamentally different, we include separate sections for each.

The overarching philosophy we bring to this work is that mental health is part of physical health, and one cannot discuss psychiatric disease except within the context of all medicine. Even the term “mind--body” seems obsolete and implying a divide that does not exist. We were frequently reminded of this as we edited during the COVID-19 pandemic and witnessed how a simple virus can wreak such havoc on the psyche of our patients, faculty, and trainees.

amination Review of Psychiatry, consists of multiple-choice questions and answers; it is designed for students of psychiatry and for clinical psychiatrists who require a review of the behavioral sciences and general psychiatry in preparation for a variety of examinations. The questions are consistent with the format used by most standardized examinations. Other parts of the system include the Pocket Handbook of Clinical Psychiatry, and the Pocket Handbook of Psychiatric Drug Treatment. They are designed and written to be carried by clinical clerks and practicing physicians, whatever their specialty, as a practical reference. Together, these books create multiple approaches to the teaching, study, and learning of 

psychiatry.