Course Overview

DSM-426: Psychiatric Disorders and their Treatment (3 Credits)

FIRST EDITION:

Ronald F. Pfeiffer, MD
Professor and Vice Chair
College of Medicine/Department
of Neurology
University of Tennessee
Health Sciences Center
Memphis, Tennessee

Richard T. Scheife, PharmD, FCCP
Associate Clinical Professor of Neurology
Tufts University School of Medicine
New England Medical Center
Editor in Chief of Pharmacotherapy
Boston, Massachusetts

Leonard (Lenny) Marcus, MD
Associate Professor
Clinical Psychiatric Medicine
Department of Psychiatric Medicine
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia

Who Should Take This Course:
Sales representatives, managers, and others who interact with
healthcare providers, including primary care physicians, psychiatrists,
and other mental health professionals who treat psychiatric disorders, and those who would benefit from a knowledge of psychiatric disorders and their treatment.

Career Applications/Benefits:
Each year, millions of Americans are affected by psychiatric disorders. These disorders cause personal hardship and also impose considerable burdens on families and society as a whole. However, advances in the study of psychiatric disorders allow mental health and other healthcare professionals to prevent and treat these disorders successfully in many cases. This course will benefit those working for pharmaceutical companies that develop or market products targeted toward psychiatric disorders. Information provided in this course will allow individuals to discuss key features and benefits of pharmaceutical therapies with psychiatrists, pharmacists, and others who specialize in the treatment of patients with these disorders. Primary care physicians are playing a greater role in the diagnosis and treatment of certain psychiatric disorders and often will require information on available pharmaceutical therapies. In addition, as pharmaceutical agents used to treat these disorders often have adverse effects on other systems of the body, this course may also have relevance for those whose products can be used to treat these adverse effects.

Course Description:
This course introduces you to the concepts behind Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and the major types of psychotherapy that modern therapists use—psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy (often combined with cognitive therapy and referred to as cognitive-behavioral therapy; CBT), and humanistic psychotherapy. The course outlines the major categories of psychiatric disorders and examines important drug classes used to treat these disorders. Several selected disorders are explored in more depth relative to their etiology, symptoms, diagnostic information, and approaches used in treatment.

Related Courses:
• Contemporary Pharmacoeconomics
• Disease Management
• Introduction to Pharmacology
• Medical Ethics
• Nervous System

Course Overview:

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Psychotherapy
	Psychoanalytic Theory Modern Psychotherapy
Chapter 2: Pharmacology Related to Psychiatric Disorders
	Overview of Psychiatric Disorders Pharmacology as it Relates to the Nervous System and Neurotransmitter Activity Pharmacology as it Relates to Psychiatric Disorders
Chapter 3: Selected Psychiatric Disorders
	Factors that Influence Treatment Decisions Anxiety Disorders Mood Disorders Psychotic Disorders Alzheimer’s Disease (An Organic Mental Disorder) Intermittent Explosive Disorder (An Impulse Control Disorder) Disorders First Evident in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence Psychoactive Substance-Use Disorders and Substance-Induced Disorders

Learning Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to discuss modern forms of psychotherapy, with an understanding of their roots in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory; explain the role of pharmacology and specific disorders; and develop deeper knowledge of several common psychiatric disorders.