Stahl’s Illustrated: Violence: Neural Circuits, Genetics and Treatment

The book Stahl’s Illustrated: Violence is intended to provide a conceptual overview of violence. The book connects psychopharmacological and other basic science concepts to the epidemiological, neurobiological, and treatment aspects of violence as they pertain to clinical psychiatry. The authors state that this book is targeted to “prescribers specializing in psychiatry . . . primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, psychologists and pharmacologists.” Stahl’s Illustrated: Violence does not meet its target audience. The book contains, on each page, cartoon-like color illustrations with condensed, descriptive text at the bottom of the page that is, according to the authors, “designed to be fun.” It is not “fun” or instructive for me, despite my knowledge of psychiatry, violence, and basic sciences. The book includes content covering neuropharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and other basic science concepts about violence as they relate to clinical psychiatry. The references are mostly old and consist, for example, of descriptions of some small research studies of patients, pharmacology of learning in mice, epidemiological studies of placement of patients from hospitals, use of various classes of psychiatric medications, clinical models of prediction of violence by patients, and so on. I do not believe that the book is sound or of value to its intended audience.

Dr. Stahl is director of psychopharmacology at the California Department of State Hospitals and has a university affiliation at the University of California. Dr. Morrissette is a senior medical writer at the Neuroscience Educational Institute. Dr. Stahl notes that he is the author of two basic books on psychopharmacology, which he notes provide “more in-depth information on particular topics,” presumably not on violence.