"Difficult" medication patients, and how to treat them

If the principles in this book are followed, the majority of patients for whom clinicians prescribe psychotropic medications will be easily managed and successfully treated. There are, however, some patients who present special problems for a clinician in the medication prescriptive process. Often, the difficulty in treatment is a reflection of the patient’s personality. When negative personality traits are strong, these may color the entire interaction with the prescriber. Clinicians may, at times, find themselves frustrated and wishing to avoid treating such patients. While these traits are annoying, knowledgeable clinicians can work within them. This chapter focuses on the most common “difficult patients” (see Table 20.1), and makes recommendations for clinical management.