American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: Compendium 2000

The aim of the American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline series is to improve patient care by informing practicing psychiatrists what is known today about how best to help patients. Practice guidelines can be vehicles for educating psychiatrists, other medical and mental health professionals, and the general public about appropriate and inappropriate treatments. The series also will identify those areas in which critical information is lacking and in which research could be expected to improve clinical decision making. The Practice Guidelines are additionally designed to help those charged with overseeing the utilization and reimbursement of psychiatric services to develop more scientifically based and clinically sensitive criteria.