Somatoform and Factitious Disorders

From our regular book review column.

Although quite concise, this book—more a polygraph than a monograph—covers a number of presumably related topics (a major dilemma discussed in the book is the issue of "related" or not), each contributed by different sets of authors, all of whom are expert in their respective areas. The Review of Psychiatry series sets itself out to be a "how-to" manual for the practitioner, according to the preface by series editors, John Oldham and Michelle Riba (i.e., how to diagnose, understand, and treat various psychiatric illnesses). Volume 20 focuses on PTSD in Children and Adolescents (Spencer Eth, ed.), Advances in Brain Imaging (John Morihisa, ed.), Integrated Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders (Jerald Kay, ed.), Treatment of Recurrent Depression (John Greden, ed.), and the present work. As a how-to manual, it succeeds admirably—it is a pithy, readable, and helpful summary.