BOOK REVIEW
Understanding Drugs and Behaviour. By Andrew Parrott, Alun Morinana, Mark Moss and Andrew Scholey. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, 2004. £21.99. 320pgs. ISBN 047186402.
According to the preface this book aims to present in a reader-friendly way to students of psychology, behavioural sciences, health sciences and nursing as well as undergraduates of physiology and pharmacology, information on the effects of drugs on behaviour, mood, cognition, sensation, awareness, health and well-being. It is generally quite successful in achieving its aim. The remit of the book does need to be borne in mind however, as it would for instance be of limited value to clinicians treating those who have substance misuse or dependence and looking for information on treatment approaches, as coverage of these is very limited. Similarly, mental health professionals looking for guidance on the practicalities of treatment will be disappointed. Moreover, the discussion of alcoholism and drug dependence in chapter 10 seems muddled at times. The terms addiction and dependence are not clearly defined. Having decided that the authors seemed to be using the two terms interchangeably, I then discovered on page 146 that addiction was apparently being equated with craving and dependence with withdrawal symptoms. A throwaway sentence on page 155, which stated that various drugs of misuse have been linked to ‘schizophrenic types of abreaction’, left me unclear as to what was meant precisely by this. More positively, the authors generally succeed in presenting the material in an accessible way. After a useful section on drugs and their actions, various drugs of misuse, alcohol and drugs used in the treatment of mental disorders are discussed, each chapter covering historical background, psychological and physical effects and pharmacology. Sample questions as well as key references and suggestions for further reading are provided at the end of each chapter. A final chapter summarizes the current situation and also looks to the future. This is followed by a glossary that students will find very useful. All in all there is much to recommend this book to undergraduates and many postgraduates of behavioural and health sciences.
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