Mental health: Information sources

Last updated: Wednesday, April 07, 2021

The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines and Bazire’s Psychotropic Drug Directory are both excellent reference handbooks that cover the most commonly asked questions (e.g. swapping and stopping antidepressants, drug choice in special patient groups). Updated frequently, they are normally amongst the first resources to check if you’re not sure where to look. You may have access to the e-book of The Maudsley Guidelines at your hospital, but the Psychotropic Drug Directory is not available online or in electronic form. 

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The TRIP database will signpost you to specialist psychiatry resources such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the British Association for Psychopharmacology, as well as more general guidance from NICE and SIGN.

Use the Clinical Knowledge Summaries for evidence-based reviews of how to manage common mental health conditions such as depression, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. 


Also on the SPS website, UKDILAS offers guidance about psychotropic medicines in breastfeeding mothers. There are links to this here.

The Choice and Medication website offers patient friendly information leaflets about mental health conditions and the treatments available to help make informed decisions about choosing the right medicine. Choice and Medication is commercially available on subscription to healthcare organisations for licensed access by staff and service users. Check with your local mental health Trust if they have access, although a personal subscription to the website is available.

Check whether you have any local guidelines or speak to your clinical experts such as your local mental health pharmacist. 

Presenting your answer 

Once you’ve asked sufficient questions, gathered the information required and assessed it, you’ll need to provide an answer. We can offer you some general guidance on answering clinical problems.