The psychiatry of palliative medicine : the dying mind

This title contains foreword by Ian Maddocks, formerly Foundation President, Australian Association of Hospice and Palliative Care and Foundation President, Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine. This book is a practical and pragmatic distillation of the psychiatry of relevance to the terminally ill. It reviews the major psychiatric syndromes encountered in palliative care - depression, anxiety, delirium - and examines psychopharmacological and psychological interventions in detail. It considers the psychiatric aspects of pain, sleep, cognitive impairment, terminal neurodegenerative diseases, sedation and artificial feeding. The dying chronically ill psychiatric patient is also discussed. The author has drawn on his great experience in both consultation-liaison psychiatry and palliative medicine to produce an essential guide for all healthcare professionals involved in palliative care, including consultants and senior nurses, as well as psychiatrists, especially consultation-liaison psychiatrists, and trainees. 'Illness that threatens imminent death challenges the mental and social well-being of affected individuals and their families. Consistent specialist psychiatric care has nevertheless not been readily available to the dying. Because there may never be sufficient numbers of psychiatrists interested in bringing their expertise to this field, working with the dying mind depends on staff with limited training in behavioural medicine and psychiatry. To redress the inadequate engagement of psychiatry, Sandy Macleod has concentrated on those important areas in palliative medicine where a pragmatic knowledge of psychiatry can make a difference. Here is sensible guidance that will enable staff to serve their client patients and families more adequately. I find this an immensely sympathetic book, beautifully written. It is a testimony to the summation of specialist psychiatric knowledge, broad scholarship and a rich personal practice in bedside palliation.' - Ian Maddocks in the Foreword.