Parents of children with neurological conditions and disorders and mental health issues are often faced with the frightening and difficult decision of whether to medicate for specific issues and behaviors. Parents are already stressed, worried, and expecting the worst when they walk into a psychiatrist's office, and it doesn't help when they've already been through the gamut of pediatricians, psychologists and other health professionals who have an opinion on the diagnosis of mental health issues in children and the role medication should play in the treatment.

A new book by an experienced psychiatrist who specializes in treating children and adolescents has been released that will make these decisions easier on parents. Information is the key to control of a situation--the more information you have, the more control you feel, and the better your decisions will be. When Kids Need Meds: Everything a Parent Needs to Know About Psychiatric Medications and Youngsters by Dr. Henry A. Paul is a straightforward, easy to read guide to the most common mental health issues and neurological conditions in children and the medications used most often to treat these conditions and issues.

Dr. Paul is the kind of doctor we as parents all wish we were dealing with: honest, empathetic, and informative. He lays everything out in his book in an orderly fashion, discusses the most common meds, the dosages, the potential side-effects, as well as the different ways the medications may be used. He draws not only on studies of the medications effectiveness, but also on his extensive clinical experiences.

He removes the anxiety that not knowing causes parents. It's a must-have in a parent's library.