Q. For how long have Lundbeck sponsored the book?

A. They haven’t ever sponsored it! I personally have little or no direct contact with Lundbeck regarding the book. Obviously I meet Lundbeck folk at various times but this would occur regardless of the book. All negotiations are through the publisher, except on the very rare occasions where there is some urgency or direct contact is easier. I receive no money nor equivalent directly from Lundbeck. I am paid royalties from the publisher on bulk deals, as well as on copies sold through the shops.

Q. Do Lundbeck influence the contents?

A. No. That is one of the reasons I am very happy with the association with the Lundbeck Foundation (sic). In fact, since Organon (who also market risperidone in Europe) also take copies (for Europe and other continents), I could not allow myself to be biased by either. I also know that other companies would be willing to take large numbers should Lundbeck decide to end the association, so I am under no subtle pressure (from Lundbeck, Organon or financially).

Q. When did it start?

A. Between 1984 and 1986 the first pages were devised in Bristol. I produced a "Which?"-style guide to drugs as part of hospital D&T committee, plus added a few notes. In 1986 I moved to Norwich and added a few bits and sections, typed using a dispensing typewriter and based on regular questions. Copies were given to pharmacists working for department. By 1987 it was used regularly by pharmacists in my Norwich group. I then started getting requests for copies from former staff (mostly ex-pre-regs). In 1988 it was converted to a word processor via an Amstrad PCW-2856 and dot matrix printer. Such was technology at the time! It was then printed by the printing department at Hellesdon Hospital in Norwich. In September 1989 I first sold copies at the (UK)PPG Conference, gaining second prize for my poster presentation. In July 1991, the Pharmaceutical Press (I won’t name names!) rejected the book as it was "not really worthwhile from a financial point of view for a publication that will, in all probability, only sell a couple of hundred copies at a fairly low price". Later in 1991 it was reviewed by Paul Glue (then Honorary Senior registrar in psychiatry, Reckitt and Colman Psychopharmacology unit, Bristol, and now in USA) for the Journal of Psychopharmacology. He phoned me at Little Plumstead Hospital to say, "What are you doing printing this and marketing yourself? Get it published properly and you won’t be driving a round in that old Ford Fiesta" "How did you know I had an old Ford Fiesta?" was my truthful reply. He recommended Valery Moran of Quay Books in Lancaster. In October 1991 I made the last home-made version. In early 1992 I met Valery Moran in Norwich, who agreed to publish it annually (although six-monthly was considered). The name was changed from the Psychotropic Aide Memoire to the "Psychotropic Drug Directory" as book shops thought the original name was too Latin and "old". By January 1993, the first version was published. There have been annual UK editions since then, as well as overseas editions.

Q. Why did you write it?

A. Well, it wasn’t for fame and fortune. Basically, it was because I have such an appalling memory. When I started in mental health, I was asked questions, found out the answers and then got asked the same question by someone else two weeks later, by which time I’d forgotten the answer. I started to write the answers down (hence the original title as an Aide Memoire) in a little book. After a while, the questions formed a pattern e.g. what is the best antidepressant/antipsychotic/anticonvulsant/anxiolytic in breast feeding/epilepsy/liver disease/renal disease etc. I then decided to be smart and fill in the missing gaps and thus answer the questions before I got asked them. This I did, I got asked the questions and knew the answers, thus creating a (slightly false) good impression. I then added the tables in chapter 2 from a D&T committee project in Bristol. So, if I’d had a good memory, I wouldn’t have done it.

Q. Have you earned much money from it?

A. I have now, but it took four editions before I broke even on my expenses, especially as I was on my second PC by that time. For the record, I received £963 for the first edition and nothing for the second, as the original publisher went out of business before paying me!

Q. What programme do you use?

A. Ventura. Lovely programme, so I’m told. I abstract papers onto Word throughout the year, and then transfer them into the main text in Ventura whenever an edition is due. Review articles are incorporated directly into the text.

A. Every Monday evening, all year round. Except when an edition is due, when it’s every other evening as well. Each edition is more a snapshot, than a specifically written edition. We once had a surprise order from Organon for a bulk purchase one summer. I had eight weeks to write the book, send to the publisher, returned for proof reading, return to publisher for final proofs, checking them and sending for printing in six weeks (as I was going on holiday). We made it. Just. The final proof pages were posted at the airport on the way out, not the first time I did that either.

A. I read the major journals in the library at Hellesdon every month, and abstract data from these. I also use the Pharmline CD-ROM to catch other major journals. I then also use review articles to scan for papers I might have missed. I use MedLine extensively to check on papers and search for specific topics. When adding a new section or revising an existing one, I will use all the above, but particularly MedLine, although I am aware it misses many papers in non-abstracted journals.

A. Not many through shops! In total, it’s now 305,000. 50,000 of these are the GP version ("GP Psychotropic Handbook") and 35,000 the US versions (co-author Dr Bill Benefield).

A. Lots:

• Commitment throughout the year (mill-stone is a term that comes to mind)
• Time (all available hours have to be used)
• fear of errors (particularly typos), and Ventura is not immune from problems, like the year it dropped hypens randomly throughout (e.g. turning a dose of 2-5mg/d to 25mg/d, which luckily I spotted)
• that people expect me to be clever just because I’ve written the book, or even just expect me to know the contents
• taking proof reading on holiday, because I have to find the time to read
• trying to proof read a page you’ve read dozens of times before, and losing the will to live in the process
• when the publisher went bankrupt
• trying to think of ways of making it better
• working out what to take out (rather than put in), in order to keep the book a reasonable size. Almost everything could be of use to someone at some point, so every word removed has to be chosen carefully, otherwise the book would expand to beyond pocket size in a couple of years

A. Many and various:

• Knowing it’s helped the care of service users, and helped people (particularly pharmacists) improve their care
• The occasional cheque
• Meeting lots of people, who seem to know me, and are nice to me
• Getting asked to conferences
• Proof reading on Greek beaches (text in one hand, beer in the other, surrounded by scantily dressed ladies but having an excuse to keep my glasses on so I can see them)
• Being able to insert jokes and bits of humour (David Taylor once challenged me to put in something about "sex and drugs and rock-and-roll", and I challenged him to put "far-out" in a review. He said the amount of information "far out-stripped that in any other book" and I put the Rolling Stones line "Mothers little helpers" in the benzo section). I can’t reveal what the most recent challenge was, but it involved specific canine anatomical details, and I succeeded.
• thanking people in the acknowledgements section
• feeling it may have helped raise the profile of our speciality of the pharmaceutical profession
• continuing to shock one of my ex-girl friends (who didn’t think I could write a coherent letter, let alone a book)
• finding copies in a bookshop in Norwich