short-term intensive therapy forfamilies or individuals. The authorsets out to bring some clarity to thefield.

Part I of the book consists ofeight chapters, each of which fo­cuses on a different aspect of crisisintervention. After an introquctorychapter, the author gives an excel­lent review of the basis of crisistheory, incl~ding the pioneeringwork of Caplan and Lindemann.The third chapter delineates thegeneral principles of crisis inter­vention psychotherapy. These haveto do with availability and brevityof treatment, activity of the thera­pist, and the focus on present prob­lems. The fourth and fifth chaptersdescribe programs that utilize crisisintervention, the author giving spe­cial attention to three programsthat represent what he sees as thethree most common uses of crisisintervention: child and familytreatment, marital therapy, andprograms designed to avoid orshorten psychiatric hospitalization.The sixth chapter gives an excellentreview and critique of evaluationstudies on crisis intervention psy­chotherapy, followed by a chapterthat discusses the selection of ap­propriate clients for this type oftreatment. The author considersfacets such as severity of the prob­lem, diagnosis, motivation fortreatment, and socioeconomicstatus. The final chapter focuses onthe future ofcrisis intervention, andhere the author is optimistic, pri­marily because of the cost-effec­tiveness of this type of treatment.

Part II consists ofa single chapterthat describes a working model forthe practice of crisis intervention.Its six essential stages are ex-

APRIL 1979· VOL 20 • NO 4

plained: delineating the problem­focus, evaluation of client, con­tracting, intervening, termination,and follow-up.

The author successfully distin­guishes between crisis-interventiontherapy and long-term psychother­apy. It would have been helpful ifhe ~ad also addressed the dif­ferences between crisis-interven­tion therapy and other short-termtherapies.

Written in a generally ~iear, con­cise style, the book is highly read­able, and represents a valuable ad­dition to the crisis-interventionliterature.

Renee Binder, M.D.University of CaliforniaSa,! Francisco

Drug Abuse: Clinicaland Basic AspectsEdited by Sachindra N. Pradhail. 598 pp.$24.50. Sl. Louis. CV Mosby. 1977.

• A book on drug abuse immedi­ately conjures up the thought ofhow seldom, if ever, one sees orattempts to treat a narcotic ad­dict-and then the ,book is by­passed. With this bo~k, such a re­action would be a great mistake,since chapter after chapter pointsup the prevalence of many prob­lems directly attributable to theabuse of legal drugs obtained byprescription or by a trip to the localliquor outlet.

The stated objective is to provide"digested but authoritative andcomprehensive technical informa­tion on clinical and basic aspectsthat will be useful for managementand prevention of drug abuse."This objective has been achieved.There is something for everyone.

Each area of particular interest canbe explored here, be it pharmacol­ogy, epidemiology, or clinical man­agement. Alcohol and prescriptiondrug abuse receive excellent cover­age; but it is unfortunate that moreis not included on the recent epi­demic of phencyclidine abuse.

The book's coverage of generalaspects of drug abuse is mostly upto date. The discussion of clinicalaspects gives specific attention todrug groups, chemicals, usage pat­terns, types of individuals involved,and complications requiring dis­covery and intervention. The sec­tion on socio-educational aspectshas merit for those not specializedin this area. The final section, ondrug abuse research, is followed byuseful appendices, tables, refer­ences, and a glossary of drug users'argot.

This book can be of value notonly to those who specialize intreating addiction but also to thosewho are called upon to recognizeand intervene in the myriad medi­cal and psychiatric problems pre­sented by a drug-taking society.

Leonard W. Cobbs, M.D.Xenia. Ohio

Psychophannacology forPrimary Care PhysiciansBy Charles L. Bowden and Martin B. Gif­fen. 91 pp. $8.95 paperback. Baltimore. Wil­liams & Wilkins. 1978.

• The authors' purpose, to publisha "h~ndbook intended for physi­cians and students who will haveprimary care responsibilities," isadmirably accomplished in thissmall volume. The text encom­passes the core content of psycho­pharmacology in a pragmatic and

289

BOOK REVIEWSlucid manner. Chapters devoted toaffective disorders, insomnia, psy­chosis, psychopharmacology forchildren, and drug interactionsoffer practical guidelines for the useof psychopharmacologic agents.The chapter on the cost of thesemedications and the saving to thepatient that can result from atten­tion to prescription practices ishelpful, too.

This reviewer can fault the au­thors in only one respect: they sub­scribe to the myth that primary carephysicians rely solely on psycho­tropic drugs to treat anxiety anddepression, without offering coun­seling, support, and advice. Thisbeliefno longer has a foundation ofcredibility, and has been invalidat­ed by well-documented surveysamong primary care physicians.

Can this text be recommendedfor primary care physicians? Defi­nitely yes. In convenient pocket­size, it contains the essential psy­chopharmacologic knowledgeneeded by the primary care physi­cian to use these agents with a feel­ing of competence and to under­stand limitations of their use.Joseph V. Fisher, M.D.Medical University of South Carolina

Neuroses: A Comprehensiveand Critical ViewBy Melvin Gray. 341 pp. $15.95. New York.Van Nostrand Reinhold. 1978.

• The dynamic evaluation of psy­chiatric thought serves as thespringboard from which Dr. Grayexplores the vast and complex areaof the neuroses. In order to give thereader a perspective in this con­stantly developing field, he fur­nishes historical informationthroughout the book, drawing fromthe disciplines of philosophy, the-

APRIL 1979 • VOL 20 • NO 4

ology, and sociology, as well asfrom medicine and psychiatry.

Dr. Gray makes the emphaticpoint that while great strides havebeen made in the study of mentalhealth and mental illness, there isstill much to be learned and orga­nized in areas such as the develop­ment of a comprehensive, consis­tent psychiatric nosology and in theinfant field of neurochemistry.

The initial chapter of the booktraces beliefs and attitudes towardabnormal human behavior fromthe dawn of history to the modernera. This chapter is remarkable inthe amount of research that musthave been done and the amount ofinformation furnished. It is repletewith quotes, from Homer to Freud.

The second chapter deals withclassification. Dr. Gray takes noth­ing for granted as he discusses thereasons for and requirements of aneffective system of classification, aswell as the many difficulties en­countered in the development ofsuch a system. Once again, a his­torical perspective is included.

A chapter on etiology discussesvarious concepts of disease and themultiple factors that affect the in­dividual's thinking, feeling, andbehavior.

The next eight chapters comprisethe bulk of the book. Each is con­cerned with one of the eight neu­rotic disorders as defined in DSMII. Each includes a well-researchedsection tracing the history of thedisorder and a section on etiology,in which varying theoretical pointsof view, including genetic, neuro­physiologic, and psychological, arediscussed. Diagnosis is viewed froma historical point of view, with em­phasis on DSM II; a discussion ofthe soon-to-be-published DSM IIIis also included. Brief sections ineach chapter summarize differen-

tial diagnosis, source, prognosis,and treatment. These sections ineach chapter are fairly conven­tional in their approach to theneuroses. The chapter on anxietyneurosis includes a concise, infor­mative overview of current think­ing on the biologic basis for emo­tion, with particular regard tostress.

The chapter on depression dealswith difficulties in classification andthe attempts of DSM III to resolvesome of these difficulties. In thischapter, biogellic amine theory isdiscussed, along with early loss andgenetic and environmental factors.

The final chapter deals withtreatment. Here, Dr. Gray againdiscusses history and then furnishesbrief descriptions of current treat­ment methods. He advocates care­ful treatment planning and recom­mends a broad approach in thehandling of the complexities ofmental illness.

All in all, the book presents abroad overview with a richness ofhistorical and current information.Of necessity, few topics are ex­plored in great depth, but the ex­tensive bibliography at the end ofeach chapter can be a stimulus forthe interested reader to pursuetopics further. One criticism is thatthe book contains many errors ingrammar and spelling for such ascholarly text. This can be distract­ing at times. I would hope thatfuture printings will be more care­fully edited and proofread.

In summary, I would recom­mend the book to the reader inter­ested in the broad sweep of psychi­atric thought. Its discussion ofrecent neurophysiologic develop­ments and its inclusion of the DSMIII make it a most timely text.

Michael C. Coplon. M.D.Merion Station. Pa.