A lot of Junior Doctors ask about the useful books as they are about to start their journey of Psychiatry Training or very first job in Psychiatry.

Here are some recommended books and resources.

Please Note: I am putting the Amazon links for the books, but please search them online to see if you can find them cheaper from other resources or there may be an more recent edition available.

Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry – 4th edition

Pocket-sized book from Oxford Handbook series, a good start for reading if you are new in Psychiatry.

Shorter Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry – 7th Edition

This book is also from Oxford series but much more detailed in compare to the handbook and if you are interested in a textbook of Psychiatry. This might help.

Psychiatry: Breaking the ICE Introductions, Common Tasks, Emergencies for Trainees

Highly recommended & very useful book for the junior doctors starting in Psychiatry. Plenty of useful tips.

Psychiatry at a Glance – Sixth Edition

Short and simple book for the new starters in Psychiatry

The Maudsley Handbook of Practical Psychiatry – 6th Edition

This is very handy short book from Maudsley and can help junior doctors.  

The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines in Psychiatry – 14th Edition

This is very useful for prescribing in Psychiatry and also for the MRCpsych exam. The 14th edition is due in June 2021.

Sims’ Symptoms in the Mind: Textbook of Descriptive Psychopathology

Probably a more advanced textbook of Psychopathology but can be very useful for trainees. You may find this in your library.

Fish’s Clinical Psychopathology: Signs and Symptoms in Psychiatry

Small book but very useful if like to know more about Psychopathology

The Maudsley Practice Guidelines for Physical Health Conditions in Psychiatry.

Nice book particularly for the physical health conditions that you will encounter in Psychiatry.

The Doctors Guide to Critical Appraisal – 5th Edition

If you like to have a basic understanding of the statistics and medical research along with critical appraisal. This book is a good start, not particularly related to Psychiatry but research in general.

NICE guidelines on Mental health and wellbeing

This is a free online resource and you will find over 60 guidelines relating to mental health.

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/lifestyle-and-wellbeing/mental-health-and-wellbeing/products?Status=Published

ICD-10 Diagnostic criteria for Mental Health

This comes in a book form but also available free online. A new version of ICD-11 will replace it in the future.

https://icd.who.int/browse10/2016/en#/F20-F29

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Please feel free to suggest any other books in the comments and I will add them to the list.