Psychiatry in Techno Colors: A Psychiatrist's Memoir of Lessons Learned about Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety and Depression

This book is a collection of essays, but they are not written in the academic style that one might expect. They are unified by simple language, a practical clinical approach, and by the author's sharing of many clinical pearls. Some of the essays are very personal and describe the challenges faced by the author in his education and professional development, going from residency to academia to private practice.
Primary care doctors will find the book helpful, especially the chapters dealing with panic disorders. In fact, his mother suffered from panic disorder and his descriptions of growing up and watching his mother's difficulties are touching. His humanistic approach to mental illness is manifest throughout the book.
He explains how his interest in painting and mixing colors helped him to develop his approach to sometimes treating psychiatric illness by using a combination of drugs. He refers to red and blue as his defining colors. Blue is associated with calming an anxious patient, red in adding fire and motivation to depressed patients. Purple was the blended color used to find a harmonious middle ground. On page 64 he actually shows the "color chart" of various psychotropics that he devised and which may be helpful to clinicians who understand his approach.
He mentions various drugs used in treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and his personal experiences using them. He also describes neurotransmitter pathways; and how low serotonin levels can bring on compulsive activity, panic attacks, depression, and lowered sense of well being. The benefits of selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRI) in helping to alleviate these symptoms are also mentioned.
Throughout the book his personalized approach is highlighted; for example he says that for a person with irritable bowel syndrome, with depression, using a drug that has constipation as a side effect may cure both their depression and their IBS.
The chapter on panic and anxiety has much practical information. Also discussed are evidence-based medicine and how they can be misleading. He finished with a detailed summary outlining how to treat depression that primary care doctors will find helpful.
Neil Liebowitz, MD, tells clinical pearls about the evolution of modern psychiatric treatment. These personal stories illustrate some of the dilemmas and possible solutions for key psychiatric problems. From growing up on Long Island to residency training at Yale, to an academic career at the University of Connecticut, lessons were learned about how best to understand psychiatric problems and strategies to treat them.
“Dr Neil Liebowitz has written a courageous book – a main course for the unsatisfactory meal that constitutes our evidence base. He has taken upon himself to tell it like it is…

"I have never seen a book like this one. I felt a little voyeuristic as I peered into Dr Liebowitz’s inner thoughts... If you are like me (I recommend this book for the experienced practitioner as well as the knowledge-seeking patient) you will identify with much of what he has to say... … you will feel less alone in your office when a non-responding depressed patient looks you in the eyes and presses you to find a remedy for his or her incredible suffering. You will also feel more effective in the ability to carry out your work.” William Glazer, MD