Best of
Mental-Illness

2000

I am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help!: How to Help Someone With Mental Illness Accept Treatment


Xavier Francisco Amador - 2000
    Whether you are a family member or a therapist, in this book you will find hope in what the new research is revealing about the problem of poor insight into illness. Prepare to be surprised and to have new hope. There is much you can do to conquer denial.

The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression


Andrew Solomon - 2000
    His contribution to our understanding not only of mental illness but also of the human condition is truly stunning.The Noonday Demon examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. Drawing on his own struggles with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, doctors and scientists, policymakers and politicians, drug designers and philosophers, Solomon reveals the subtle complexities and sheer agony of the disease. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact the malady has had on various demographic populations around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness.The depth of human experience Solomon chronicles, the range of his intelligence, and his boundless curiosity and compassion will change the reader's view of the world.

Swing Low: A Life


Miriam Toews - 2000
    . . . Healing is a likely outcome of a book imbued with the righteous anger, compassion and humanity of Swing Low.” —Globe and Mail (Canada)Reverberating with emotional power, authenticity, and insight, Swing Low is Miriam Toews's daring and deeply affecting memoir of her father’s struggle with manic depression in a small Mennonite community in rural Canada. Personal and touching, a stirring counterpart to her novel IrmaVoth and reminiscent of works by Susan Cheever, Gail Caldwell, Mary Karr, and Alexandra Styron, Swing Low is an elegiac ode to a difficult life by an author drawing from the deepest well of insight,craft, and emotion.

The Bipolar Child: The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Disorder


Demitri Papolos - 2000
    A revised edition of this important study discusses the diagnosis and treatment of early onset bipolar disorder in children, arguing that many youngsters who are currently being treated for ADHD and depression may be suffering from the early stages of manic depression, offering new information on mood-stabilizing drugs, omega-3 fatty acids, educati

Flophouse: Life on the Bowery


Dave Isay - 2000
    Photos. NPR feature.

Shades of Jade (Strivers Row)


Gloria Mallette - 2000
    Louis. Wayne. Eric. Marissa had been warned: One of these days you're gonna mess with the wrong woman's husband. But she doesn't care. Aside from an occasional bout of guilt, she feels no shame, because after all, if their wives were doing what they were supposed to, then their husbands would not be seeking her company. Marissa dates married men - four of them concurrently because it's easier. She gets all of the trappings of a relationship - love, wining and dining, physical pleasure - without any of the pain - cooking, laundry, and the day-to-day maintenance of a relationship. But when it appears that one of the wives of the men she is dating is out to get her - wants her dead, in fact - Marissa begins to reexamine the choices she's made. Her selfishness gives way to vulnerability and fear, and she comes to the conclusion that she deserves a man all her own. But will she survive long enough to find Mr. Right?From the Trade Paperback edition.

The Fat Lady Sings


Jacqueline Roy - 2000
    Locked in a psychiatric unit because her public singing brought her to the attention of the police, Gloria meets another British woman of Jamaican descent with whom she can share her past, giving them both hope for the future.

Off Centre (One Play Series)


Haresh Sharma - 2000
    It is best remembered for bringing mental illness and its patients’ plight to the attention of the media and the public.The play uses effective techniques of flashbacks; moving the characters in and out of their schizophrenic and normal selves to elicit the rational and emotional experiences of two schizophrenics, Vinod and Saloma.Off Centre was first staged in September 1993 at The Drama Centre.

To Redeem One Person is to Redeem the World: The Life of Freida Fromm-Reichmann


Gail A. Hornstein - 2000
    To Redeem One Person Is to Redeem the World tells the extraordinary life story of the German-Jewish refugee analyst who accomplished what Freud and almost everyone else thought impossible: she successfully treated schizophrenics and other seriously disturbed mental patients with intensive psychotherapy, rather than medication, lobotomy, or shock treatment. Written with unprecedented access to a rich archive of clinical materials and newly discovered records and documents from across Europe and the United States, Hornstein’s meticulous and “delightfully lucid”** biography definitively reclaims the life of Fromm-Reichmann. The therapist at the core of Joanne Greenberg’s I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is also the analyst who had an affair with, and later married, her patient Erich Fromm. A pioneer in her field, she made history as the pivotal figure of the unique and legendary mental hospital, Chestnut Lodge.“A lively, well-written account of a charismatic leader in an important period of psychiatry’s history.”—Psychology Today“At a time when little pills are seen as a quick fix for almost everything, this book is well worth taking time to read and contemplate.”—Philadelphia Inquirer *Publishers Weekly **Kirkus Reviews

Angelhead: My Brother's Descent into Madness


Greg Bottoms - 2000
    Beginning with Michael's first psychotic break—seeing God in his suburban bedroom window while high on LSD—Greg Bottoms recounts, in gripping, dramatic prose, the bizarre disappearances, suicide attempts, and the shocking crime that land Michael in the psychiatric wing of a maximum security prison. A work of nonfiction with the form and imagery of a novel, Angelhead enables the reader to witness not only the fragmenting of a mind, but of a family as well.

Lying: A Metaphorical Memoir


Lauren Slater - 2000
    Mixing memoir with mendacity, Slater examines memories of her youth, when after being diagnosed with a strange illness she developed seizures and neurological disturbances—and the compulsion to lie. Openly questioning the reliability of memoir itself, Slater presents the mesmerizing story of a young woman who discovers not only what plagues her but also what cures her—the birth of her sensuality, her creativity as an artist, and storytelling as an act of healing.

The Voice of the Poet: Anne Sexton


Anne Sexton - 2000
    McClatchy.

Anne Sexton: The Last Summer


Arthur Furst - 2000
    She wanted to create the version of her life that would most poignantly serve as her monument after she was gone. She left behind a study filled with her papers, writings, and photos.On a photo assignment from Houghton Mifflin, Arthur Furst first met Anne Sexton in April, 1974. Welcoming him into her life as a friend, Sexton allowed him to capture her image over the last months of her life. Undoubtedly, she intended Furst's photographs to become part of her legacy.Anne Sexton: The Last Summer juxtaposes Furst's exclusive photos with letters and unpublished drafts of Sexton's poems written during the last months of her life, as well as previously unpublished letters to her daughters. With an introduction by Linda Gray Sexton, this book furthers both Sexton's literary and personal legacies.

The Curative


Charlotte Randall - 2000
    Living in appalling conditions he still manages to be witty, urbane and seemingly sane. As the story unfolds we learn about life in the asylum, about his life before Bedlam and how he came to be there.

Up and Down the Worry Hill: A Children's Book about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and its Treatment


Aureen Pinto Wagner - 2000
    Help is now available! Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the gold standard of treatment for OCD, and offers youngsters and their families the path to mastery over OCD. In this uniquely creative and heart-warming book, Dr. Wagner, an internationally recognized expert in the treatment of childhood OCD, uses the powerful real-life metaphor of the Worry Hill to describe OCD and its treatment clearly and simply through the eyes of a child. Children and adults will identify with Casey's struggle with OCD, his sense of hope when he learns about treatment, his relief that neither he nor his parents are to blame, and eventually, his victory over OCD.Parents and Professionals can use this book alone or together with the companion book, What to do when your Child has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. This is the only children's OCD book that has a companion book for parents.

Resurrecting the Person: Friendship and the Care of People with Mental Health Problems


John Swinton - 2000
    In other words, how a mental illness is experienced has much to do with how it is socially constructed. How will the church react to this suggestion? Swinton suggests that the key to the effective pastoral care of individuals with severe mental illness lies not only within the realms of psychiatry, therapy, and pharmacological intervention, but in the rehumanization which is borne within the relationship of friendship.

Practicing Harm Reduction Psychotherapy: An Alternative Approach to Addictions


Patt Denning - 2000
    For the first time, the goals and methods of harm reduction are incorporated into a comprehensive psychotherapeutic approach--one that can be initiated without waiting for, or insisting on, abstinence. Clinicians learn concrete strategies for assessing the client's personality, behaviors, and resources; enhancing motivation for change; making collaborative treatment decisions; and implementing a range of different interventions.

The Stranger in the Mirror: Dissociation--the Hidden Epidemic


Marlene Steinberg - 2000
    You feel as if you're going through the motions of life or you're watching a movie of yourself.These are all symptoms of dissociation -- a debilitating psychological condition involving feelings of disconnection that affects 30 million people in North America and often goes untreated. The Stranger in the Mirror offers unique guidelines for identifying and recovering from dissociative symptoms based on Dr. Marlene Steinberg's breakthrough diagnostic test. Filled with fascinating case histories of people with multiple personalities, this book provides enlightening insights into how all of us respond to trauma and overcome it. Her innovative method of treatment will benefit anyone in search of a healthier sense of self and a heightened capacity for joy.

The Nature of Melancholy: From Aristotle to Kristeva


Jennifer Radden - 2000
    Truly interdisciplinary, it is the first such anthology. As it traces Western attitudes, it reveals a conversation across centuries and continents as the authors interpret, respond, and build on each other's work. Editor Jennifer Radden provides an extensive, in-depth introduction that draws links and parallels between the selections, and reveals the ambiguous relationship between these historical accounts of melancholy and today's psychiatric views on depression. This important new collection is also beautifully illustrated with depictions of melancholy from Western fine art.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: A Complete Guide to Getting Well and Staying Well


Fred Penzel - 2000
    Many suffer in isolation, not knowing that their disorder has a name, how to seek help, or how to help themselves. Dr. Penzel discusses the entire spectrum of these disorders, from the classic form characterized by intrusive, repetitive, and often unpleasant thoughts, to body dysmorphic disorder (imagined ugliness), trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling), compulsive skin picking, and nail biting. He takes the reader through each step of the most effective behavioral therapies, detailing how progress is made and how to avoid relapse. He also offers a completely up-to-date discussion of medication--how it is used as part of the overall treatment, its effect on pregnancy, how to choose the best medicine, and how to know if it is working. In addition, Dr. Penzel discusses the treatment of children with these disorders, offers helpful advice for the families of sufferers, and lists sources of help and information (including the latest sites on the Internet).

Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African-Americans


Alvin F. Poussaint - 2000
    Yet from 1980 to 1995, suicides among black youths increased 114 percent.This alarming statistic demonstrates a real crisis in America's health care system. The most prominent African-American psychiatrist and an award-winning journalist (both of whom lost siblings to self-destructive behavior), offer Lay My Burden Down as an essential response to a national emergency.Beginning with a concise analysis of the often troubled relationship between African-Americans and a white medical establishment, Poussaint and Alexander trace the historical, cultural, and social factors that prevent blacks from seeking medical treatment and document the failed response of white health professionals. Most important, they ask us to look again at abuse, gunplay, and the increase in HIV cases among African-Americans not exclusively as predictable products of racism and poverty but also as examples of self-destructive, suicidal behavior. Intervention is possible, and Poussaint and Alexander cite many ways that our national health care system and health care professionals may help, while noting the programs and policies that have already begun to make a difference. A crucial initiative, Lay My Burden Down will change how we view mental health care in America. About the Authors:A former consultant for The Cosby Show, Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D., is professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He lives in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Amy Alexander is a freelance journalist and editor of The Farrakhan Factor. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Outsider: A Journey Into My Father's Struggle With Madness


Nathaniel Lachenmeyer - 2000
    In 1978, Charles Lachenmeyer was a happily married professor of sociology who lived in the New York suburbs with his wife and nine-year-old son, Nathaniel. But within a few short years, schizophrenia–a devastating mental illness with no known cure–would cost him everything: his sanity, his career, his family, even the roof over his head. Upon learning of his father’s death in 1995, Nathaniel set out to search for the truth behind his father’s haunted, solitary existence. Rich in imagery and poignant symbolism, The Outsider is a beautifully written memoir of a father’s struggle to survive with dignity, and a son’s struggle to know the father he lost to schizophrenia long before he finally lost him to death.The Outsider is a recipient of the Kenneth Johnson Memorial Research Library Book Award and is the winner of the 2000 Bell of Hope Award, presented annually by the Mental Health Association of Philadelphia to honor “significant and far-reaching contributions benefiting those facing the challenge of mental illness.”