Ten principles of good psychiatric prescribing

Psychopharmacology is not the sole province of psychiatrists. General practitioners (GPs) should be familiar with the management of common psychiatric disorders, especially depressive and anxiety disorders, as most people with these disorders are treated in primary care. Hospital physicians encounter many patients for whom psychiatric drugs have been prescribed, partly because of the increased prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders in individuals with chronic medical disorders, and with the increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease in people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.