In February 2013, Shane Koyczan's passionate anti-bullying poem "To This Day" electrified the world. An animated video of the lyric narrative went viral, racking up over 12 million hits to date and inspiring an international movement against bullying in schools. Shane later performed the piece to sustained applause on the stage of the 2013 annual TED Conference. Now this extraordinary work has been adapted into an equally moving and visually arresting book. Thirty international artists, as diverse as they are talented, have been inspired to create exceptional art to accompany To This Day. Each page is a vibrant collage of images, colors and words that will resonate powerfully with anyone who has experienced bullying themselves, whether as a victim, observer, or participant. Born of Shane's own experiences of being bullied as a child, To This Day expresses the profound and lasting effect of bullying on an individual, while affirming the strength and inner resources that allow people to move beyond the experience. A heartfelt preface and afterword, along with resources for kids affected by bullying, make this book an invaluable centerpiece of the anti-bullying movement. See the video version of the poem on YouTube at www.youtube.comwatchvltun92DfnPY.

    After a dozen doctors and thousands in medical bills, I was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder--one that causes me to lose track of time. Sometimes it’s hours, days or even weeks with no recollection of anything. The good thing is it's been almost two years since I had my last ‘black out’. It sounds much better than what the doctors refer to them as, 'episodes', like my life is a freakin' comedy. During those two years of normal, I finally managed to get my Bachelor’s degree, a job I love, and I’ve just proposed to a woman who has been there for me through it all. For the first time in a long time everything is on track. Until a strange woman shows up at my door—she says I'm her husband and I think she’s crazy. Until, I get a voice mail on my phone. It’s from a guy name Cal. The weird part is, it’s the same name the strange woman called me. What terrifies me, is this guy Cal…his voice sounds just like mine.

    I’m needy. I’m broken. Cutting breaks through my numbness, but only opens more wounds. Depression, self-harm, bullying....that's my reality. Sex and guys....that's my escape. The space between the truth and lies is blurred leaving me torn, lost and confused. And while the monsters that live in my head try to beat me-- the two men that I love try to save me. This is my story of friendship, heartache, and the grueling journey that is mental-illness.Warning: Due to possible triggering subject matter and some sexual situations this book is not recommended for anyone under the age of 17 years old.

    Her greed made me a slave and circumstance left me with no way to escape.Trapped, the only way I could silence the nightmares driving me to insanity was to wrap them in color, hold them with shadow, and stitch them to negative space with line.But no matter how bright the pigments, no one could see my confession.Except for Roy Callahan.I thought he was just another nameless one-night stand in a long line of many. But I was wrong. Roy could see past the façade of my life and through the veil color over the canvas. He could see what the world couldn’t.And with him I’d find the courage to tell the truth about the boy.The boy who kissed me.The boy who loved me.The boy whose name I couldn’t remember.

    I'm eighteen years old, and I'm one half of a whole. My other half—my twin brother, my Finn—is crazy. I love him. More than life, more than anything. And even though I'm terrified he'll suck me down with him, no one can save him but me. I'm doing all I can to stay afloat in a sea of insanity, but I'm drowning more and more each day. So I reach out for a lifeline. Dare DuBray. He's my savior and my anti-Christ. His arms are where I feel safe, where I'm afraid, where I belong, where I'm lost. He will heal me, break me, love me and hate me. He has the power to destroy me. Maybe that's ok. Because I can't seem to save Finn and love Dare without everyone getting hurt. Why? Because of a secret. A secret I'm so busy trying to figure out, that I never see it coming. You won't either.

     know about this illness — very well — because I suffer from it. It’s been four years since my diagnosis, and ever since, I’ve been living in a dark hole. Voices constantly invading my thoughts. Hallucinations. All of which force me to question if what I’m experiencing is even reality. But here I am, still hanging on, still breathing and living through it. That is, until he stumbled into my life. Logan Reed. I don’t want any part of him. I’ve pushed him away, but he isn’t easily deterred. I’ve told him I’m different, but he doesn’t care. He’s trying to slowly break me down. I’m trying just as hard not to let him. He doesn’t know how truly damaged I am; what will happen when he does? I know the truth — he’ll never be able to look at me the same way again. Just like everybody else.

    But Tommy has a reason: life at home is tough. His abusive mother isn't well; in fact, she may be mentally ill, and his sister, Mary Lou, is in the hospital badly burned from doing a chore it was really Tommy's turn to do. To make amends, Tommy takes over Mary Lou's paper route. But the paper route also becomes the perfect way for Tommy to investigate his neighbors after stumbling across a copy of The Daily Worker, a communist newspaper.Tommy is shocked to learn that one of his neighbors could be a communist, and soon fear of a communist in this tight-knit community takes hold of everyone when Tommy uses the paper to frame a storeowner, Mr. McKenzie. As Mr. McKenzie's business slowly falls apart and Mary Lou doesn't seem to get any better, Tommy's mother's abuse gets worse causing Tommy's bullying to spiral out of control.Poignantly written, Kristin Levine proves herself a master of gripping and affecting historical fiction.

    Through the eyes of her naive and inexperienced younger self, Byron shares remarkable stories inspired by the people she had the privilege to treat. Gripping, poignant, and full of daring black humor, this book reveals the frightening and challenging induction all mental health staff face and highlights their incredible commitment to their patients. It shares the tales of ordinary people with an amazing resilience to life's challenges.

    Now living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in a comfortable house, she’s sure she’ll never belong. Wracked by panic attacks, afraid to talk to anyone at her new school, Joy’s got a whole list of reasons why she’s crazy. With immense courage, Joy finds friends and grows closer to her new family. But just when hope is taking hold, she learns she must testify in her mother’s trial. Can she face her old life without losing her way in the new one? Will she ever truly belong in a world that seems too normal to be real?

    Standing in the crease facing one-hundred-mile-an-hour slapshots, the entire game riding on your glove hand, standing on your head when necessary-all job requirements for those wanting to be the best goalies in the world. Now imagine doing that job while suffering high anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, and having your career nearly literally cut short by a skate across your neck.The Crazy Game takes you deep into the troubled mind of Clint Malarchuk, the former NHL goaltender for the Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres. Even as a boy, Malarchuk faced such deep anxiety that he missed school and acted out at school and with his friends. His OCD changed the way he trained, and he was almost always the last player off the ice. When his throat was slashed during a collision in the crease, Malarchuk nearly died on the ice. Forever changed, he struggled deeply with depression and a dependence on alcohol, which nearly cost him his life and left a bullet in his head.

    New name, new cover, same book.My name is McKenzie Perry. I’ve lived a life filled with secrets. Secrets that took me years to understand. Secrets that my bestie Gia and I kept from the world. Secrets that only I knew. I wasn’t afraid of the lies, the secrets, or the hidden skeletons. That’s not what frightened me. I was afraid that one day they would come out, somebody would find out the truth. If I am the only one that knew the secrets, the lies, then they were safe, right? How does a well-rounded, talented little girl create a false sense life? It took several years for me to understand the impact of lies. Lies I told, secrets I kept, and the lives they controlled. One of the things I know to be true is, I did the things I did for a reason, even if I didn’t know it at the time. They all had a reason.

    Their journey to get together has been anything but easy, but now they finally have the time and freedom to build a full and complete life together. The way they started, the life they lead in between, and the life they end up with, is a journey that tests the love they have found, and defines the love they are destined to share forever. ***Warning: This book contains profanity, sex, mild violence and mature content matter. Mature audiences ONLY*** No cliffhangers Recommended Reading Order of The Sister Series: The Other Sister The Years Between (Jessie & Will) The Good Sister The Best Friend The Wrong Sister The Years After The Broken Sister

    When her mood-stabilizing medications aren’t threatening her life, they’re shoving her from depression to mania and back in the space of an hour. Her crisis of American Indian identity bleeds into other areas of self-doubt; mental illness, sexual trauma, ethnic identity, and independence become intertwined. Sifting through the scraps of her past in fifteen formally inventive chapters, Washuta aligns the strictures of her Catholic school education with Cosmopolitan’s mandates for womanhood, views memories through the distorting lens of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and contrasts her bipolar highs and lows with those of Britney Spears and Kurt Cobain. Built on the bones of fundamental identity questions as contorted by a distressed brain, My Body Is a Book of Rules pulls no punches in its self-deprecating and ferocious look at human fallibility.

    She thought, and thought, and then, though she didn’t know why, she wrote: ‘I want to be thin.’Over the next twelve years, she developed anorexia nervosa, was hospitalised, and finally swung the other way towards bulimia nervosa. She left school, rejoined school; went in and out of therapy; ebbed in and out of life. From the bleak reality of a body breaking down to the electric mental highs of starvation, hers has been a life held in thrall by food.Told with remarkable insight, dark humour and acute intelligence, The Time in Between is a profound, important window into the workings of an unquiet mind – a Wasted for the 21st century.

    Not the put-her-in-the-loony-bin kind, but the rock-in-the-corner-so-I-can-breathe kind. Maybe they’re one and the same and I really do need to be put away, but I think I just need a little air. I’m bone tired. My eyes look like I haven’t slept in weeks. I’m eating my feelings and developing a pudge that isn’t gonna go anywhere if I keep binging on chocolate, nachos and wine. I’m 28 and everyone has left me. I have no friends. My boyfriend left. My mom died, so technically she left me too. I hate my job. I get this overwhelming 'oh my God, is this what my life is gonna be?' feeling and I want to die. Curl up and die. And since I don’t feel my heartbeat fading or my breathing getting even slightly faint, I panic that I’m gonna have to live. Maybe Maby is a heartbreaking, and at times, hilarious story about coping with loss, finding love in New York, and learning to recognize hope in the middle of it all.

    After all, she’s never even seen him. He remains sequestered upstairs in a house that looks like it should be the main feature in an episode of Hoarders. She had no idea the house was such a dump when she took the job. But she’s concerned about the safety and health of the old man living under such horrid conditions.What she got was a mystery…Despite warnings not to venture upstairs, she wanders up to the second floor. What she sees is shocking. The man she finds is a gorgeous, sexy, middle-aged man-- and he's stepping out of the shower. But something is definitely not right. Why would this wealthy, handsome man live in a house in such disrepair while his nine-teen year old son resides in a lavish penthouse? Why does he hide away from society? Why does he come to her rescue and then run away?What she discovered was heartbreaking…Angie learns that forty-four year old Grayson Whitmore suffers from schizophrenia. Paranoid, he retreats into his own world.What she ended up with was a treasure…Angie is determined to get through to Grayson. They form a friendship that blazes into an inconceivable love fired with raging passion. Angie must now come to Grayson’s rescue because the wicked that has been perpetrated on him is unconscionable. First, though, she must gain the trust of a man whose mind does not allow for such a thing.

    In the midst of the overwhelming struggles that accompanied autism, he continues to persevere. Her father’s love enabled her to overcome insurmountable obstacles, discovered the power of love and embraced the gift of life.

    There comes a point in a woman's life when she realizes not everyone gets a happy ending.And no one knows this better than Lillian Shaw.The safety of a small southern upbringing and a happy normal family couldn't keep life from chipping away at her.And nothing leaves its mark like the bite of a broken heart.Blow after blow, Lillian tries to stay optimistic, but when faced with a choice that could destroy her future, she gives in to the temptation.When your first true love comes crashing into your happily ever after, you're supposed to walk away. Not fall back in love. But saying no to Leo was something Lillian could never do...Once lines are crossed is there any going back? Or is the risk that Lillian Shaw takes going to leave her broken again... And this time be enough to make her A Woman Gone Mad?***Warning: This is not a shy and tender fairytale love story. It's a raw, tragic, and gritty story inspired by true events. This book is not for the faint of heart, it contains graphic language, sex, violence, and drug use. MATURE Audiences Only. Not intended for young adult readers.***

    In 1972 home is a cozy nest on Cape Cod for eleven-year-old Naomi "Chirp" Orenstein, her older sister, Rachel; her psychiatrist father; and her dancer mother. But then Chirp's mom develops symptoms of a serious disease, and everything changes. Chirp finds comfort in watching her beloved wild birds. She also finds a true friend in Joey, the mysterious boy who lives across the street. Together they create their own private world and come up with the perfect plan: Escape. Adventure. Discovery. Nest is Esther Ehrlich's stunning debut novel. Her lyrical writing is honest, humorous, and deeply affecting. Chirp and Joey will steal your heart. Long after you finish Nest, the spirit of Chirp and her loving family will stay with you. Praise for Nest:"A poignant, insightful story of family crisis and the healing power of friendship." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred"A stunning debut, with lyrical prose and superbly developed characters. . . . [Readers] will savor Nest and reflect on it long after its conclusion." —School Library Journal, Starred"Ehrlich's novel beautifully captures the fragile bond shared by Chirp and Joey and their growing trust for each other in a world filled with disappointments and misunderstandings." —Publishers Weekly, Starred "Chirp's first-person voice is believable; her poignant earnestness is truly heartrending. Ehrlich writes beautifully, constructing scenes with grace and layers of telling detail and insight." —The Horn BookWhat authors are saying about Nest:"Nest sings with heart and emotion. Simply gorgeous." —Jennifer L. Holm, New York Times bestselling author of Turtle in Paradise"Nest speaks to the heart. I wanted to put my arms around Chirp and never let go." —Holly Goldberg Sloan, author of Counting by 7s and I'll Be There"I loved the book! It's so tender and touching and real. Chirp is a marvelous character, and Joey's just plain lovable. I worry about him. Congratulations. The book is absolutely splendid and I hope everyone in the world notices." —Karen Cushman, author of the Newbery Medal–winning, The Midwife's Apprentice, and the Newbery Honor, Catherine, Called Birdy"A remarkable work. Esther Ehrlich's characters stand out so real and true: Chirp's friendship with Joey is tender and moving, and truly unforgettable. One can see Cape Cod and feel Chirp's love for the birds wheeling overhead. I wanted this story to go on and on. What a brilliant future this author has. I can't wait to read her next book." —Patricia Reilly Giff, two-time Newbery Honor–winning author

    I am an only child, and she is a single parent. My mother is a trash hoarder. Ever since I can remember the house was always messy and stunk. At around age 9ish I noticed that something was wrong. I started throwing bags of trash away every day, just to have my mom freak out when she got home. We didn’t eat at home anymore because the fridge was disgusting, and she used the sink as a trash can, so it got clogged. We always ate out, we never had a home-cooked meal, and I’ve never had a family dinner at a dinner table. I had a stool in the corner of the living room. That is what I sat on, and that alone. I kept that corner as clean as I could. Made sure there was foot space, and that there wasn’t dust on the walls. That was my corner, my space. It never seemed to matter though, eventually that spot would get overrun with trash too...’Trash is Britney Fuller's shocking account of growing up in the house of a hoarder.

    Everyone can understand that. They never get it when what’s been broken is inside your head.Five years after an unspeakable tragedy that changed him forever, Gordie Allen has made a new home with his half-brother Kevin. Their arrangement works since Kevin is the only person who can protect Gordie at school and keep him focused on getting his life back on track. But just when it seems like things are becoming normal, Gordie’s biological father comes back into the picture, demanding a place in his life. Now there’s nothing to stop Gordie from falling into a tailspin that could cost him everything—including his relationship with Sarah, the first girl he’s trusted with the truth. With his world spinning out of control, the only one who can help Gordie is himself . . . if he can find the strength to confront the past and take back his future.

    This literary memoir takes readers from her childhood in India where depression is thought to be a curse to life in America where she eventually finds the light within by drawing on both her rich Hindu heritage and Western medicine to find healing.As a young girl in Bangalore, Gayathri was surrounded by the fragrance of jasmine and flickering oil lamps, her family protected by Hindu gods and goddesses. But as she grew older, demons came forth from the dark corners of her idyllic kingdom--with the scariest creatures lurking within her.The daughter of a respected Brahmin family, Gayathri began to feel different. "I can hardly eat, sleep, or think straight. The only thing I can do is cry unending tears." Her parents insisted it was all in her head. Because traditional Indian culture had no concept of depression as an illness, no doctor could diagnose and no medicine could heal her mysterious malady.This memoir traces Gayathri's courageous battle with the depression that consumed her from adolescence through marriage and a move to the United States. It was only after the birth of her first child, when her husband discovered her in the backyard "clawing the earth furiously with my bare hands, intent on digging a grave so that I could bury myself alive," that she finally found help. After a stay in a psych ward she eventually found "the light within," an emotional and spiritual awakening from the darkness of her tortured mind.Gayathri's inspiring story provides a first-of-its-kind cross-cultural view of mental illness--how it is regarded in India and in America, and how she drew on both her rich Hindu heritage and Western medicine to find healing.

    How are you supposed to make positive change in your life if the book itself feels like a chore? This book is definitely not a chore. In Hardcore Self Help: F**k Anxiety, I talk to you like a friend. There is lots of swearing and humor and also loads of helpful and actionable information. You learn about anxiety and how to find the weapons within yourself to slay it for good.

    The day has gone so fast, going to all those places, meeting all those people and now I’m here. He’s led me here. It’s time now, after all I’ve done, it’s time to see him.And everything started with a post-it.

    The ticking time bomb is Saul Reimer's sanity. His Alzheimer's is going to be the catalyst that will either bring his family together or tear it apart. Although An Absent Mind depicts Saul's arduous struggle with Alzheimer's, it is equally a story about his relationship with his loved ones and their shared journey. Seventy-one, and a man used to controlling those around him, Saul finds himself helplessly slipping into the abyss in what he describes as his slow dance with death. As we listen in on his ramblings, humor, emotions, lucid moments, and confusion, we are also privy to the thoughts and feelings his family share with us-his wife, Monique, conflicted and depressed; caring, yet angry; his daughter, Florence, compassionate, worried about her father's health, yet proper and reserved; his son, Joey, self-centered and narcissistic, seemingly distant from his family's challenges. And Dr. Tremblay, Saul's Alzheimer's specialist, who provides the reader with facts and observations about this dreaded disease that imprisons more than 35 million people worldwide. We know from the beginning how it has to end for Saul, because no one has ever outsmarted Alzheimer's. But how will he navigate the meandering road that will eventually destroy his health and result in his death? And how will it affect those around him as they live with strain and guilt, while at the same time being forced to face their own demons? These questions are answered expertly by the author as he explores the conflicts that rise to the surface as the family deals with Saul's dementia. Eric Rill's novel is reminiscent of Lisa Genova's Still Alice, Nicholas Sparks The Notebook, and Alice Munro's Away From Her. Although a beautiful work of literary fiction, An Absent Mind will expose the reader to the reality of Alzheimer's.

    Her father’s violence and her mother’s hostility drove her out of the house and into the streets in search of a better life. This soon led her into a dangerous world of drugs, predatory older men, and the occasional kindness of strangers, but despite the dangers, Rita kept running. One day she came upon a field of horses galloping along a roadside fence, and the sight of them gave her hope. The memory of their hoofbeats stayed with her.Rita survives her harrowing childhood to become a prize-winning writer and the wife of a promising surgeon. But when she is suddenly besieged by terrifying panic attacks, her past trauma threatens her hard-won happiness and the stable, comfortable life she’s built with her husband. Within weeks, she is incapacitated with fear—literally afraid of her own shadow. Realizing that she is facing a life of psychological imprisonment, Rita undertakes a journey to find help through a variety of treatments. It is ultimately through chasing her childhood passion for horses that she meets a spirited, endearing horse named Claret—with his own troubled history—and together they surmount daunting odds as they move toward fear and learn to trust, and ultimately save, each other.

    I used to have friends and colleagues who respected me. I used to be someone I respected. I knew the life I wanted, and I lived within my forever plans. I was everything I thought I should be.Then I met the man of my dreams, and everything changed in me.Everything I was and everything I was to become changed with his love.And I've never regretted one single moment of the life we shared.My name is Sophie Morley, and I am lost.

    One night, one party, changed everything. Ana was an athlete with a bright future. She only wanted to lose a few pounds. David had everything: family, friends, a girlfriend, an undefeated football team...and a secret that was destroying him. Read their devastating stories in their own words, in the diaries they left behind.

    She has been in survival mode ever since, dealing with a mentally unstable parent, having no one to turn to for help. Her desire to escape to a better future fuels her motivation and keeps her focused on what really matters, breaking free of the hell she lives in.Things at home are complicated and it’s easier to push people away than allow them to get too close. She doesn't let anyone into her life except her best friend Amanda. Maggie has perfected keeping secrets, maintaining her GPA and staying out of relationships. All her energy is put into her school work so that when she graduates she can leave for college and forget her past.All of that changes when she meets Vincent Moreno. His reputation precedes him but she quickly discovers there is so much more to him than what you see on the surface. He manages to wiggle his way into her life despite her efforts to keep him at a distance. As Maggie starts to open up she realizes how much she needs someone like Vince in her life. They form a connection like no other and it has her reconsidering everything.

    Pruchno, a scientist widely acclaimed for her research on mental illness and families, shows how mental illness threatened to destroy her own family. Not once, but twice. As a child, she didn't understand her mother's episodes of crippling sadness or whirlwind activity. As a mother, she feared her daughter Sophie would follow in the footsteps of the grandmother Sophie never knew. Unraveling the mysteries of her mother's and daughter's illnesses, Pruchno fought to preserve her marriage and protect her son. But it was not until she came to terms with her own secrets that she truly understood the destructive and pervasive effects mental illness has on families. Surrounded By Madness is transforming. It will empower families to stop hiding and start talking when mental illness strikes. RACHEL PRUCHNO is Director of Research at the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging and Endowed Chair, Professor of Medicine at Rowan University's School of Osteopathic Medicine. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University. Dr. Pruchno has been the Principal Investigator on numerous research grants funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Aging, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Retirement Research Foundation, and the Cleveland Foundation. She has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, authored 10 invited book chapters, and co-edited Challenges of an Aging Society: Ethical Dilemmas, Political Issues. She has served as Editor-in-Chief of The Gerontologist, a leading scientific journal, since 2011. She is married with four children, two of whom are dogs.

    With a small group study guide and "Ten Steps for Developing a Mental Health Ministry in Your Congregation," Blessed Are the Crazy is more than memoir--it's a resource for churches and other faith-based groups to provide healing and comfort. Part of The Young Clergy Women Project.

    I was simply Naomi Carradine. One month ago, I was admitted into a psych ward. Yesterday, Lachlan visited me. Kissed me. And told me that I’m starting to lose my mind. Hours later, Max haunted my thoughts, reminding me I’m not crazy and that he needs my help. A few minutes ago, I drifted further from reality, trying to unravel the past. And now...everyone thinks I’m insane. But, I know he's real, and I know he needs me. Do you believe me?

    For it's the day that Paul, my late husband and father to my seven children, decided he'd had enough of the life he had created for us all, and took himself off to the woods on the edge of our property, and fatally slashed his neck and arms." When Vikie Shanks met Paul, he seemed to be everything a girl could ever want. Handsome, attentive, caring and musically gifted, he felt like the antidote to all the bad things that had happened in her life. Vikie had had a deeply unhappy childhood, and it had scarred her. Sexually abused by her eldest brother and dominated by a violent father, her childhood ended with the death of her mother when she was just sixteen. Unravelled is the story of Vikie's life with Paul. Of the years in which his behaviour and mental state became ever more erratic. Of his casual cruelty, his spying, his inexplicable and sudden rages. Of his growing obsession with having more and more children, and of naming them according to a precise set of rules. How, over a period of years, he all but gutted their family home, tearing down most of the internal walls and removing almost everything but basic furniture, while simultaneously creating a secret home for himself, made out of plywood, in what used to be a shed. Of his secret diaries - the tens of thousands of entries he made, documenting every minute of every day. After his death, it would be these writings that would provide such compelling evidence of what further tragedy might have happened had he not made the decision that he did that fateful morning. Because whatever was wrong with him was like a ticking bomb that even Vikie hadn't properly heard; it seemed he'd spent time planning to kill the whole family.

    Bipolar II disorder differs from bipolar I in that sufferers may never experience a full manic episode, although they may experience periods of high energy and impulsiveness (hypomania), as well as depression and anxiety. If you have been diagnosed with bipolar II, or even if you think that you may have this disorder, you may be frightened by the highs and lows of your intense emotions. Fortunately, there are proven-effective treatments that can help you find a sense of calm and peace of mind. Written by an extremely accomplished team of bipolar experts, The Bipolar II Disorder Workbook is designed to help you manage the recurring depression, hypomania, and anxiety that can arise as a result of your condition. The convenient workbook format combines evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and other mindfulness-based exercises to help you manage your emotions, track your progress, and ultimately live a happy and more productive life. This is the first self-help workbook available specifically for individuals diagnosed with bipolar II disorder.

    Moulton delivers a moving story about family, friendship and the lengths we go for the people we love.Lucy Peevy has a dream--to get out of the trailer park she lives in and become a famous scientist. And she's already figured out how to do that: Build a robot that will win a cash prize at the BotBlock competition and save it for college. But when you've got a mama who doesn't always take her meds, it's not easy to achieve those goals. Especially when Lucy's mama takes her, her baby sister Izzy, and their neighbor Cam away in her convertible, bound for parts unknown. But Lucy, Izzy and Cam are good at sticking together, and even better at solving problems. But not all problems have the best solutions, and Lucy and Izzy must face the one thing they're scared of even more than Mama's moods: living without her at all.Perfect for fans of Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and Katherine Paterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins.Praise for CHASING THE MILKY WAY "Chasing the Milky Way takes readers along for the highest of highs and lowest of lows. A much-needed addition."--School Library Journal"A poignant story filled with chaos, deep affection and hope."--Kirkus Reviews"An empathetic portrayal of mental illness full of sensitivity and, ultimately, hope."--Booklist"Moulton...writes freely about children forced to assume adult responsibilities while remaining in touch with their idealism, and the possibility of everyday magic."--Publishers Weekly

    Chloe and Alex together again maintain their composure and romance as they raise their four-year-old son, Sammy. But fairytales are merely stories they read in the nursery at night, for lurking behind each thought is a world out of control like the chaos of a car crash. As life likes to do, everything Chloe firmly believes in twists in the opposite direction. With three paths to choose from she can only choose Left. Right. Or Start Again. All the questions have answers, and the forces of good and evil wage an epic battle solely within the mind, leaving behind the constraints of reality. From time travel to drifts, When Fully Fused is a thrilling ride from start to finish, literally.

    Her family calls her a drama queen. Her fiance, Sam, moves out after she throws a shoe at his head. Maggie knows there is only one way to get him back-control her moods. So she takes the step most of her family is against: therapy. After a diagnosis of Bipolar II Disorder, Maggie begins to investigate her family tree-which is plagued by mental illness and hidden relatives-and develops empathy for her deceased Great Aunt Ella, who lived her life in a mental institution. But Maggie's journey leads her into fear and insecurity, afraid she'll end up like Ella and never get Sam back. But what about Nick, her super-sexy old flame, who wants to reignite their passion? And does it even matter, anyway? Won't mental illness stop any man from loving her?"

    An irresponsible brother. A protective friend. An anonymous lover. An assassin, nicknamed the Mako Shark after the sheer violence of his hits. Miko is deadly. And damaged.Miko is in love.Excerpt: The server shifted his weight, nervously asking, “Is everything all right, sir?” when it was very much apparent that everything was not all right.Miko stared unblinkingly at his dinner, seeing dead gray flesh floating in a plate of blood where there was only filet mignon with a side of steamed vegetables. He was trembling, his face pale and glistening with sweat. “I am a vegetarian,” he said quietly, finally turning away from his plate.“But…you ordered it. Rare, sir. Extra rare.”Gripping the steak knife in his shaking hand, Miko managed to stammer, “On a separate plate.”“Yes. I’m…I’m sorry, sir. You are correct. It’s my mistake. I’ll bring you—”“No. Please, the check. The check.”“Of course.” He departed with a bow.Miko released the knife and draped his napkin over the plate, his stomach turning. The napkin remained bleached white, failing to soak up the inches of gore that were not actually there. He loosened his tie, then pushed the plate away and slowly brought his hand into his coat pocket where he kept his nine millimeter. And his sanity.The waiter arrived with the check just as Miko slipped a little red candy between his lips, closing his eyes and pressing it against the roof of his mouth with his tongue. Spicy, sugared relief flooded his senses and he sighed languidly. “Thank you,” he said. His English was not particularly clear even without having his mouth full, but Miko did not care whether the waiter understood him. Or if he understood what his error could have cost them both.

    Two men, aided by her father, hustle her mother away without a word, leaving a stunned Sarah staring after them. Thus begins Sarah’s journey into a world of secrets, a world of great responsibility and little guidance. Along the way, “The Blue Car,” set in western North Carolina in 1952, explores when to keep a promise and when to break it, and whether people can really change. Book club discussion questions included.

    The book acts as an informative guide and draws from the experiences of author and counsellor, Joshua Fletcher, who lived with anxiety disorder for years before successfully overcoming the condition. The book is tailored for people who are: experiencing panic attacks, feeling abnormally anxious, ruminating about health, anticipating further panic attacks and questioning why anxiety is present in the first place. Anxiety Panicking about Panic provides quick, easy to access advice and practical strategies, which aim to educate the reader to simplify their world of anxiety in order to successfully tackle it.This book is particularly tailored for people who can associate with the conditions of:- Anxiety- Anxiety Disorder- Generalized Anxiety- Panic Disorder- Agoraphobia- Health Anxiety- Panicking for no reason- Panic Attacks (and anxiety about them happening again)

    While slowly losing her sanity, she traveled the world. She returned to the U.S. unable to work or study—and soon found herself homeless, delusional, and controlled by voices that talked to her and gave her orders in her mind.Bethany’s memoir enables the reader to enter into the mind of a person with schizophrenia, homeless and roaming the streets. While living in the shadows of society, her illness drove her to refuse all contact with her family and friends, and eventually led to her arrest and hospitalization. Against all odds, she recovered from schizophrenia, returned to college, and graduated with honors.Henry A. Nasrallah, MD, a professor of psychiatry who treated Bethany, writes, “Bethany is living proof that recovery from schizophrenia is possible with good medical care, solid family support and the courage to keep fighting the tormenting voices that ordered her every move and controlled her every thought. MIND ESTRANGED is also a powerful message of encouragement and support for any human being facing an overwhelming challenge at some point in life.”

    Constructive is a good thing, but wallowing is bad. Right?But wait a minute; is it really so terrible to give ourselves a time-out to feel our feelings? Or is it possible that wallowing is an act of loving kindness, right when we need it most?Almost everyone loves the idea of self-compassion -- the notion that maybe in spite of our messy emotions and questionable behavior, we really aren't all that bad. In recent years there's been an explosion of books that encourage readers to stop beating themselves up for being human, which is terrific. Unfortunately, readers who aren't interested in Buddhism or meditation have been left out in the cold.Constructive Wallowing is the first book to cut right to the chase, bypassing descriptions of Eastern philosophy and meditation techniques to teach readers how to accept and feel their feelings with self-compassion for greater emotional health.It's tempting to turn away from menacing, uncomfortable feelings like anger, grief, or regret; however, ignoring them just seems to make them stick around. By learning to accept and embrace, difficult feelings, readers keep their sense of personal power and gain greater understanding and ultimately esteem for themselves.

    If her life were fictional, she'd magically know how to deal with the fact that her best friend, Anibal Gomez, has abandoned her in favor of being a "hipster." She'd be able to take care of everyone when her dad has to spend time in the hospital. And she'd certainly be able to change her family's secret.Seventh grade is not turning out the way Mysti had planned. With the help of a hot-air balloon, her new friend Rama Khan, and a bright orange coat, can she find the courage to change?

    Determined to find out the truth and stop the abuse, but bound to silence by the ethics of confidentiality, Megan will need to confront the dark mind of a dangerously disturbed man in a deadly battle of wits and wills.This clever and gripping psychological thriller, with its unexpected twists and unnerving climax will appeal to fans of Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), Paula Hawkins (Girl on the Train), Sophie Hannah and Nicci French.

    This memoir is an account of a self-proclaimed adult low life. It's a trip down Tron's cocaine-frosted rabbit hole as she observes the assembly line of broken people (herself included) produced by society, then labeled as incorrigible by failing institutions. She is not a vindicator of the floundering masses, but a stumbling shaman soap-boxing a nihilist spiritualism. Tron reminds us of our undeniable mediocrity; it's our averageness which makes us human, and our humanity which makes us extraordinary.

    Author Craig Kelly navigates depression and the psychiatric system as he writes about a litany of medications, gender identity, inpatient treatment, and temporary friendships made in the hospital. Dear Shane dispenses a vision of radical mental health to edify readers so that they may better support themselves and others.

    But she's carrying around a secret: her mother is suffering from a mental illness.No one in Laura's family will talk about her mother's past hospitalizations or increasingly erratic behavior, and Laura is confused and frightened. She finds some solace in art, but when her mother, also an artist, suffers a breakdown, Laura fears that she will follow in her mother's footsteps. Left without a refuge, can she find the courage to face what scares her most?

    The flowing lines, sweeping swirls and highly-detailed patterns on every illustration have been created so that anyone and everyone can enjoy making something beautiful and calming. Increasing focus through creativity can benefit those who find it difficult to unwind or struggle to find their inner artist when faced with a blank page. There are no instructions, no rights or wrongs, and no need for expensive art supplies - readers can simply doodle and colour in any way they wish to create unique and exquisite pieces.

    Determined to put right some of the wrongs he’ll never be able to forgive himself for making and make his Aunt Sarah – the only person left who still believes in him - proud, he lands in London with the intention of working hard, getting his degree and keeping himself to himself. He can’t destroy anybody else that way… His heart and his body have other ideas however when he finds himself sitting next to nineteen year old Emily Barton in his Psychology class. Moving down south to find her own New Life, Emily is shy, smart and beautiful – everything Dexter knows he should stay away from… everything he knows would be too easy for him to break. But she makes him feel things he’d forgotten even existed. She makes him laugh, smile, care… forget. Without her trying, and without him realizing, Emily has wound her way into the one place he swore to keep locked away forever – his heart. But can she stay there when she discovers the dark past he’s so determined to keep hidden from her? Or will he destroy her too, just like he always expected? Hold On Tight A figure from Dexter’s past has uprooted all the memories he has tried so desperately to bury… to forget. The terrible events of his past have been blown wide open once again, immersing him a pool of guilt deeper than he’s even experienced before. Dexter feels powerless. The future he foolishly allowed himself to conceive is falling apart around him and there’s nothing he can do about it. But there’s one thing he can control – one thing he’s an expert at… blocking everything out. Losing all control, Dexter copes the only way he knows how – he dives so far into the well of addiction, the only thing that matters anymore is where his next fix is coming from. Mission accomplished – there’s no one left. He’s successfully pushed everyone away. Nobody left to care about means no more guilt, right? You can’t hurt people who aren’t there… But has he really pushed Emily as far away as he thinks he has? She’s given up everything for him – her home, her friends… her whole life. And she doesn’t regret a single thing. But can she save him from drowning, or has he finally sunk too far? Lean On Me Rachel Mason oozes confidence. She’s outgoing, adventurous and would chop off her right arm before caring what other people think of her or her disability. Right? Jared Mattheson on the other hand, is more than a little goofy and a whole lot of carefree. He’s happy living the bachelor life on his father’s credit card, takes nothing seriously and wouldn’t know difficulty if it slapped him in the face. Right? With Emily and Dexter away in the States, Rachel and Jared are left behind to keep each other company. They share the same sense of fun, their personalities bounce off one another perfectly and perhaps inevitably, they become best friends. But what happens when the lines of friendship start to blur? How will they cope when the sides of themselves they’ve kept hidden from the world for so long begin to show? Their journey together may have started with fun, games and alcohol – but it seems the future has other ideas. Turns out, even the strongest of people need someone to lean on sometimes. Never Let Go In the final book of the Take My Hand Series, Emily and Dexter are finally on course to a happy future. For the first time in his life, Dexter has found his purpose.

    Two charming, over-anxious, germ-phobic friends, Isaac and Greg take a road trip from Boston to Philadelphia. They are both obsessed with Marcel Duchamp, his art and his ideas, and thus the destination has to be the largest collection of Duchamp in the world, The Philadelphia Art Museum, the actual place "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even" was to be delivered when it was cracked and broken in shipment. The piece is sometimes known as The Large Glass, and today it sits in the middle of a large gallery proudly displayed in its broken state which Duchamp repaired and then certified had been his intention all along.The two men are driven in a rented disinfected Winnebago by Kelly, a beautiful art scholar who smells like a mixture of lemons and fresh sawdust. They intend to pick up an ancient chocolate grinder, an exact working sculptural copy of one used in a Duchamp painting. Isaac intends to grind his own pure chocolate, which will prevent the build-up or arterial plaque, because his mother died of a stroke. Every action has its own suitable reaction, and then some. Isaac hopes eventually to overcome his devotion to his many obsessions and to re-enter the world, evidently his version of the real world. He is not an unreliable narrator, he is a hyper-reliable narrator, consumed by his own attention and thrilled with the connections he sees everywhere all at once. Of course when he finally gets to the museum he must dress-up as a woman to visit the collection.

    Get through high school, go to college to appease her dad, somehow stay fit, lithe, and athletic through all the stress and become a professional cheerleader. Normal teenage stuff. Simple. At least it was simple before she was raped. Now Allison's whole life is out of her control. She can't trust in her own choices, can't rationalize anything anymore, so she just goes through the motions, hoping that eventually she'll go back to normal, can stop pretending. That doesn't happen, especially when she's forced to reveal what happened to her family and closest friends. On the MTV commercials and reality shows that emphasize that she has nothing to be ashamed of and guide viewers to some website like don't-be-a-victim.comand a support hotline, no one warns her that the aftermath is more difficult than the rape itself, that her family's efforts to be supportive make her feel more alone and confused. And being raped has more devastating consequences than Allison ever imagined, forcing her to make one of the most difficult decisions she's ever had to make. It should be a no-brainer, everyone says, but being raped makes Allison question everything and everyone she thought she could trust. Either way, Allison won't let anyone force her to do anything again, not like her rapists did, even if it makes her already difficult enough circumstance more difficult. Uncensored and unflinchingly honest, these are the confessions of a teenage rape survivor.

    But often depression interferes with your relationship, distancing you from your partner during your time of need. If you are in the midst of depression, you may worry that you aren’t good enough for your partner, or become irritable around them. You may even push them away when you feel like your emotions are beyond your control. In addition, your sense of intimacy may diminish, and your sex life may fizzle as a result of fatigue, medications and feeling disconnected from your partner. The hard truth is that feelings of isolation, worthlessness, and tiredness can all take a hefty toll on your love life. But you don’t have to let depression be the demise of your relationship. Using an integrative approach based in mindfulness, interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), When Depression Hurts Your Relationship offers practical skills to help readers with depression reignite intimacy with their partners. If you suffer from depression, this book is a must-read to help keep your romantic relationship healthy, exciting, and rewarding for you both.

    He travels back to her abandonment at birth and adoption from a Polish orphanage at fourteen months, through her happy childhood and her turbulent adolescence, searching for answers. In most respects, Casey was a perfectly normal girl – beautiful, smart and popular, accepted at an elite college. But she also had troubling behaviors that no one understood, including mental health professionals. His search leads to a condition known as attachment disorder, an affliction common among children who have been abandoned, neglected or abused.It explained everything.

    The boy's father disappears into a world without color. As the father seeks help, color begins to reappear and with it hope. An ideal book for parents and caregivers to share with children to help them make sense of the devastating effects that depression can cause.

    It's a collection of poetry and passages that depict struggle of a human mind with it's veiled and untamed nature. It show how far we can go if we incline ourselves to that side and how much we are willing to give up.Psychaotic tells you the harsh realities of life rather than filling your head with fantasies and dreams that will never happen.In that reality check, this book will change how you think about certain things. It will tell you, that wrongs can be right and right can be wrongs as well as, bad can be good and good can turn out to be bad.

    Crossing the boundaries of discipline and profession, Caruth’s subjects include literary theorists and critics, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychologists, political activists, filmmakers, public intellectuals, institutional leaders, and researchers. Exploring the intertwining of the intellectual and personal dimensions of experience, each interview is accompanied by Caruth's intimate photographic portrait of its subject. Caruth chose her subjects because of their impact on her thinking as well as their significant role as witnesses to the collective and cultural significance of trauma. The individuals profiled here are innovators in the theory of trauma (Part I), in the clinical, activist, or testimonial interventions in trauma (Part II), or in the creation or modification of institutions that provide therapeutic, artistic, or legal responses to traumatic events (Part III). Two of the interviews first appeared in Caruth's landmark 1995 work, Trauma: Explorations in Memory. The rest were conducted between 2011 and 2013 after the field of trauma studies expanded significantly. Representing both the foundation of trauma research and cutting-edge approaches to the topic, this collection will be useful to practitioners with an interest in post-traumatic stress disorder as well as scholars exploring the multiple dimensions of profound human experience.A portion of the proceeds from sales of this book will go to the Grady Nia Project for abused, suicidal, and low-income African American women.

    Alice faces despair and occasional rapture as she struggles with simultaneously real and hallucinated relationships, including a tumultuous romance with her co-worker David, and an escalating war with her supervisor Fran. In lyrical prose, Bridge exposes a raw, brilliant, and furious mind as it treads the jagged terrain of mental illness, murder, and suicide—to be or not to be.Robert Thomas is the author of Door to Door (2002, Fordham University Press), selected by Yusef Komunyakaa as winner of the Poets Out Loud Prize, as well as Dragging the Lake (2006, Carnegie Mellon University Press). He has received a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and won a Pushcart Prize. He lives with his wife in Oakland, California, and works as a legal secretary in San Francisco.

    This is Not for You is a memoir which vividly describes the memories of growing up in a dysfunctional environment and how these circumstances developed a spirit within the narrator. This is a story of resiliency and drive to overcome the extreme adversities that addiction and poverty can create in the life of a young child.

    Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own. Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

    This mixture became a threat to her survival along with the failures of our healthcare system and having a single parent navigate it all. This story starts after months of unsuccessful attempts to get help for Gabriela. Finally, the police were called early one morning to pull Gabriela out of the Holy water at a local church and she was put on her first psych hold. It was during that hospitalization Gabriela’s psychiatrist determined her psychotic break was, as Gabriela had claimed, the result of the antiepileptic drugs. The continuing refusal of the neurologist to make any adjustments to Gabriela’s medications despite the requests of Gabriela herself, her mother, and the psychiatrist who treated her resulted in a second psychotic break so severe that Gabriela stopped eating, drinking, sleeping, sitting, or speaking. This time Gabriela was effectively abandoned by the neurological community and the only recourse was treatment at a cult-like psychiatric facility that, in the process of rehabilitating her.

    With skyrocketing rates of diagnosis and medication treatment, it has generated a firestorm of controversy. Alarming questions have been raised about ADHD in recent years: *Why are over 10% of children and adolescents in the U.S. now diagnosed with ADHD, with projected rates quickly rising? *Why do over two-thirds of those diagnosed with ADHD receive medication? *In some southern states, why are boys diagnosed at rates of almost one in three? *What is causing the fast-rising diagnosis and medication of adults? Why are over a quarter of all college students using stimulants for academic performance? *What drives the current ADHD "tsunami"-- is it parents, clinicians, schools, culture, the healthcare system, or Big Pharma? When will it end? *Can we trust the stories we read and hear about ADHD, even in major media outlets? The ADHD Explosion and Today's Push for Performance uniquely blends clinical wisdom, current science, new information on medical and school policy, and global trends to debunk myths and set the record straight. Hinshaw and Scheffler describe the origins of ADHD and its huge costs to society; the science regarding causes as well as medication and behavioral treatment; and the major variation in diagnosis and treatment across the U.S., highlighting the key roles of educational policy and high-stakes testing. Dealing directly with stimulants as "smart pills," they describe the epidemic of medicalization, arguing that accurate diagnosis and well-monitored care could ease the staggering economic burden linked to ADHD. In novel ways, they unravel the many poignant issues facing children, teachers, clinicians, and family members who contend with ADHD each day. The recommendations in this book can improve the quality of life for those touched by ADHD and potentially improve the productivity and safety of all society.

    Woven with angst and darkness, bursting with heartache, Paper Souls tells of the irreparably damaged and broken, and how they survive.

     When Karl Marx entered the University of Berlin, he thought of himself as a poet and dramatist. He soon recognized that he was neither, but not before he left behind a novel, a handful of love poems and one act of a play, OULANEM (the cryptic title that Marx gave to his fragment). That fragment is here incorporated into a Gothic novel that reveals the all-consuming, obsessive demands of revenge.

    Part of the "Red Door Reds/Who is Ben Skrewd?" novella collection, it weighs in at approximately 20,000 words, and picks up right where TALENT FOR TROUBLE (Blake Brothers #2) left off. Meg and Drew, you'll recall, have just taken off--together, after midnight and in a tearing hurry. Wondering where they've gone? TOUCH OF TROUBLE fills you in. Enjoy! HE'S IN HOT PURSUIT… Drew Blake loves women. All women. Normally, they love him right back but Meghan Wise? Not so much. To his shock, Meg's immune to charm, impervious to flattery, and just plain impatient with his attention. So what the hell is she doing knocking at his bedroom door after midnight with a smile and an invitation? SHE'S HARD TO GET... Meg prefers to fly solo, generally speaking, but she knows when to buddy up. Like now, for example, when an annoying situation suddenly goes all law-and-order on her on the middle of the night. She'll deal with it, of course, but she'll need a bodyguard. Unfortunately, the only person who's both interested in her body and handy at midnight is Drew "Charm Boy" Blake. SHE'S IN A TOUCH OF TROUBLE… Meg's not offering quite the adventure Drew has in mind but he jumps at it anyway. Because there's just something about this girl, something beyond the surface slick and the endless legs. Something soft, vulnerable, and precious that she really doesn't want him to see. Which is why he desperately wants to see it. Drew's not one to resist temptation, either. The question is, can she resist him? …BUT IT MIGHT JUST BE HIS LUCKY NIGHT.

    "The Big Book of Mandalas" provides tranquility and a creative release with 200 customizable mandala illustrations. As you color in each mandala, your focus will shift, allowing you to fully relax your mind. The intricacy of the designs will also encourage you to express yourself as you use your own unique palette to fill in every pattern.Whether you're new to the practice or have been using mandalas for years, "The Big Book of Mandalas" will bring you inner calm and maximized creativity--one coloring page at a time.

    Our culture assumes people diagnosed with mental illness are stuck, doomed to struggle for the rest of their lives against a problem without ever experiencing real and lasting change. As Christians we know better. The world is broken, but God has invaded that world with the power, light, and hope of his Son Jesus Christ. Whether you're tormented with panic attacks or thinking of committing suicide, Jesus can help.

    Step-by-step she leads you through: 1) Exercises to help you to break the habit of the behavior. 2) Techniques to reduce stress and anxiety naturally, thus reducing the body’s need to pick. 3) How to release negative thoughts and emotions holding you back.4) Lifestyle changes to restore physiological balance, including which foods to avoid, which to eat more of, and natural supplements to help you stop. This comprehensive guide is a lifesaver for those suffering from skin picking, and is invaluable also for health professionals interested in learning how to help their patients who pick.

    She has never attended school. She doesn’t own a smartphone. She doesn’t know the latest fashion and she has never seen the newest reality TV show.Amy has lived her entire life hidden away in the mountains with her mentally ill mother and her mother’s dark secrets. She has no contact with the outside world, until the day she sees him for the first time through the crack in the tall wooden fence that holds her prisoner. Every day she returns to watch the boy through the fence, imagining what it would be like… to be kissed, to be touched, and to be loved.But her mother has warned her, “The world is evil, Amy. The boys will hurt you and the girls will laugh.”Dillon is a lonely, farm boy content with running his father’s horse ranch until Amy stumbles onto his property begging him to help her. An emotional connection quickly turns into an intense physical connection.He wants to give her the world and she wants him to give it to her. All of it.

    It had been a difficult venture that included an expulsion, a multitude of transfers, and a four-month institutionalization for depression and anorexia. By the time it was over, she was convinced she was cured, and that it was time to start curing others. I’m ready, she told her parents, her therapist, her friends—all of whom shook their heads in horror at her 95-pound frame. But she was undaunted. She had landed a job as a counselor in a halfway house for drug and alcohol addicts. She knew better than anyone what it took to become a happy, functioning adult.Or so she thought. As you might suspect, the burden of self-contempt, faulty logic, and interpersonal turmoil that are the character traits of depressive disorders and addictions do not miraculously disappear once medication and therapy have taken effect. Where, then, do these dangerous obsessions go once a person sets foot on the road to recovery?For Shavin, they lived on beneath the radar of her supposed newfound health, disguising themselves in the falling-down houses she happily moved into and dangerous neighborhoods she somehow didn’t fear. They announced themselves in the deeply flawed men she professed to adore, the ordinary sex she could not have, the food rituals she thought were normal, and most profoundly, in her inability to acknowledge her father’s illness and encroaching death.While many writers have written candidly and eloquently about their struggles with depression, addictions, and eating disorders, those stories usually conclude once there is progress toward recovery. Beyond recovery there is another story, one that is about how we re-join the world, and, in the living years that follow the darkness, pursue a life that is creative, engaged, and deeply felt in our bones. This is the territory of The Body Tourist.

    Using a mix of narrative, photographs, emails and pictures of various cherished objects, the book takes the reader into the author's world of caring for her younger brother Paul, who suffered from schizophrenia and then lung cancer. Both universal and personal, Katherine Dering'sShot in the Headis the story of a family just barely holding on. Dering unspools her story with urgent compassion and grace." Elizabeth Eslami, Author ofBone WorshipandHibernate and the 2013 winner of the Ohio State University Prize inShort Fiction I virtually read Ms. Dering's book through in one sitting. She did a magnificent job. This eye-opening account of the realities of having a seriously mentally ill family member should be at the top of the "must read" list for anyone involved with, or otherwise interested in, improving mental health services for those who are most in need. Fred Frese, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychiatry Northeast Ohio Medical University Coordinator, Recovery Project So powerful and emotional." -Ann Cloonan, Director, Bedford Free Library, Bedford, NY. You will fall in love with the Flannery clan, who stepped up to support their brother Paul throughout his sad journey with schizophrenia........a readable and important book -Randye Kaye, author, Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope"

    There's no one-two-three guide that will take you to your final destination. But it is a flashlight, and one that, when raised, indicates that there's a path in the gloom.

    It’s as if Stein and Dickinson had been invited to converse about the effects of serial murder on body, soul, and mind: a strange wonder. The phenomenological and moral turbulence of these poems is matched by their sonic and structural grace, making Sims’s book a profound offering to ongoing, important conversations about the nexus of aesthetics, violence, representation, and empathy."—Maggie Nelson"In this minimalist account of the language of killers, Laura Sims creates disturbingly powerful chords of empathy. Reading, we discover ourselves inside the one who begs, “For heaven’s / sake catch me /before I kill more.” Like a photographic negative the book shows only the barest lines of its subjects, but in so doing reveals more, and more hauntingly, than full exposure ever can. We don’t want to turn the page, and we do. Looking away is not an option, because we are seduced."—Julie CarrLaura Sims's third poetry collection engages the escarpment of the page itself: walled-off phrases set against spare lines on largely empty pages, a proto-graphical representation of thought itself. These poems replicate the psychic fragmentation that's necessary for evil-doing: relationship as crime scene, the folk ballad re-writ for our new cult of mass-shootings, "the quiet and unmeaning" of a natural world wrought horrific . . .From "MURDER SON(G)":Walk into a pep rally with guns.Walk into a Costco with guns. Walk into a coffee shop with guns. Walk into a party store with guns. Walk into a wedding shower with guns. Walk into a weight room with guns. Walk into a living room with guns and sayAll I want is something small.Laura Sims is the author of Stranger and Practice, Restraint, both from Fence Books, and of Fare Forward: Letters with David Markson (Powerhouse Books). She co-edits Instance Press and teaches literature and creative writing in New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

    That's how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old--a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger's shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother--and herself--from the endless replay of heartache and grief.Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

    In this sequel to Seams, Kelsey Walker finds happiness again as she and her children begin to build a new life with Brady Walker. Their world, however, is once again rocked when accusations are made, lies are uncovered, and a heart-breaking truth threatens to destroy their newfound family. True to life, this story exemplifies how sometimes people are just not who we believe them to be. In Unraveled, Kelsey chooses to follow her heart - until she uncovers an undeniable truth. Is it possible to love someone too much? And just how far will some people go for the sake of love?

    Having volunteered there as a high school student, he feels fairly well prepared and presumes that conditions like those in Jack London’s 1914 short story about the place, “Told in the Drooling Ward” are a thing of the past. He soon discovers that what really happens behind the closed doors of the institution has not changed much since London’s time, certainly not for the better. Taught the “necessary” skill of how to choke out a patient on his first day, and told with a shrug that sometimes when patients run away to the nearby hills, they’re never found, the young trainee is thrust into a world of austere realities that most adults would balk at entering. Based on author Ed Davis’s real-life experiences, In All Things is an honest reflection of a pivotal time in his life, as well as a compelling social commentary on how mental institutions were run in the 1970s. Told as a fictionalized, first-person narrative and expressed with stirring compassion, his story is an open door into a dark part of our history that will stay with you long after you read the last page.

    This dramatic and chilling life-changing story holds the power to make you laugh, cry, shiver or quiver, or fall madly in love with the characters. Following the suicide, haunting nightmares of gunshots began echoing in my head and I began living behind the curtains of darkness, when I desperately fell into the hands of a psychologist. Weeks later she stepped forward, taking me back on a journey, through the scandalous times, when we lived in the deadly clutches of father. In a desperate search for the inner child, it reveals the hidden secrets, lies and fears we keep. After years of abnormal living, evil forces won their triumph, overpowering, stealing, what moral senses I had left as I met face-to-face the consequences of my reckless actions, with society’s reactions. One by one disaster emerged. A tragic and shameful ending that left me plagued with guilt, as I frantically searched for the answers of …Why, Why, Why? This dramatic and chilling story was written surrounding true events and heart wrenching emotions demonstrating the abuse that has left our minds repentant for what we believed we could not alter, nor change. A connection of hurt minds coming together, for as many of my roads are yours, allowing us to heal as we find the purpose entwined.*The names, places and sequences of events have all been changed to protect, more than just the innocent.

    In this important new book, Matthew Ratcliffe develops a detailed account of depression experiences by drawing on work in phenomenology, philosophy of mind, and several other disciplines. In so doing, he makes clear how phenomenological research can contribute to psychiatry, by helping us to better understand patients' experiences, as well as informing classification, diagnosis, and treatment.Throughout the book, Ratcliffe also emphasizes the relevance of depression to philosophical enquiry. He proposes that, by reflecting on how experiences of depression differ from 'healthy' forms of experience, we can refine our understanding of both. Hence phenomenological research of this kind hasmuch wider applicability. He further shows how the study of depression experiences can inform philosophical approaches to a range of topics, including interpersonal understanding and empathy, free will, the experience of time, the nature of emotion and feeling, what it is to believe something, andwhat it is to hope.This book will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand and relate to experiences of depression, including philosophers, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, therapists, and those who have been directly or indirectly affected by depression.

    Nobody knows why. Not even Ricky. Forty-two years later and Ricky still believes himself to be that little boy. The face of the man in the mirror is a stranger he’s never known. Doctors at Pinebrook Mental Hospital, desperate to help Ricky confront the suppressed memories locked away in his fractured mind, perform a radical new therapy that will reveal the secrets buried on that fateful night. But at what cost? Some memories are better left forgotten.

    After nineteen years of suffering with a psychological condition, ethereal Chloe had finally come close to finding her ultimate escape—or, so she thinks on the vibrant streets of Paris. Finally in a relationship with Alex, a man she fell in love with in Schasm, Chloe thinks life is finally coming together. As she battles her own demons, she attempts to repair the damaged man she’s grown to love. But as his clouded past abruptly crashes into their lives and falls heavily upon their budding romance, Chloe must fight to maintain her relationship. Although even when the problems begin to subside, she comes to realize certain things cannot be escaped. Just as Chloe believes she might have sealed the doors of darkness once and for all, new questions, new findings and new inceptions arise. Whether or not Chloe wants to continue forward with the path her life seems to be leading, she quickly learns that any choice she makes will ultimately land her in a place she never knew she was destined to be.

    How Sky left Jeremy thinking it was better for him. Purposely holding her feelings back because she knew it's for the best. Sky believed she was done with Jeremy after the deal was over but she was terribly found wrong. It's her turn to play the fake girlfriend. A phone call to Jeremy brings him home for spring break, but not alone. It's Jeremy's turn to find a fake paid girlfriend to present to his family. Sky will now find out during her week-long of lies that she's not the only one with family problems and tragedies. Maybe, just maybe, they do need each other.

    Topics included in these fields include a range as diverse as capital sentencing guidelines, informed consent, and standards of care for mental health treatment. All of these topics need to be understood and mastered by clinicians, educators, administrators and attorneys working with psychiatric patients. This book brings together concise, comprehensive summaries of the most important landmark legal decisions relating to mental health practice in the United States. These decisions, along with their underlying reasonings, make up a critical portion of the national certification examination for forensic psychiatry offered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Many of the themes are also tested in the ABPN certification examination for general psychiatry. This book is the first to provide a combination of summaries of the relevant legal content paired with board-style test questions designed to help consolidate knowledge and prepare for certification. Cases with similar themes are grouped together with an eye toward helping the reader understand the evolution of legal and clinical thinking on a particular topic. This book represents an important addition to the study tools and textbooks available related to psychiatry and the law and will serve as a useful reference for clinicians who must follow established legal requirements in their field.

    The kids at school, and the teachers and administrators too. Even the police who pick her up from her night rambles. Maybe them most of all.Justine’s therapist says she is ‘troubled’, but it means the same thing. He thinks that her vivid, reoccurring nightmares and atrocious behavior point to some trauma in her past; but Em, Justine’s mother, can’t explain it.Justine used to have Christian, her best friend and skateboard partner. He was the only one who accepted her. Maybe because skating is the only time that Justine is really free to be herself. Now that Christian is gone… Justine keeps thinking things can’t get any worse.Even as she sees her life spinning further and further out of control, Justine can’t give up her sense of who she is—someone far different than the loving daughter Em expects her to be—to just fit in and be happy. She is sure that Em secretly holds the key to who Justine really is. But if she does, Em isn’t talking.

     This book is designed for anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide and felt that sucker punch of grief; for anyone who is in pain, walking unsteadily, and considering suicide as an option; and for anyone who works with, guides, or counsels those feeling suicidal and/or suffering the profound grief from a suicidal loss. Making Peace with Suicide includes stories of courage, vulnerability, and steadfastness from both the survivors of suicidal loss as well as the unique perspective of the formerly suicidal. It offers shared wisdom and coping strategies from those who have walked before you. It explores the factors leading to suicide and the reasons why some do and some don’t leave suicide notes. Making Peace with Suicide sheds light on the phenomena of suicide vis-à-vis our teens, the military, new mothers, as an end-of-life choice, and asks if addiction is a form of slow suicide. It provides a seven-step healing process and opens the door to consider suicide and the soul, the heart lesson of suicide, and the energies of suicide. If suicidality has impacted your life, Making Peace with Suicide is a must-read. You will be guided through the unknown territory, given insights to allow understanding, stories to help you heal, and ways to make peace with a heart wide-open. Making Peace with Suicide is good medicine for the body, mind, and soul.

    Those words conjure the image of a spider, an eight-legged creature with the red imprint of an hourglass on its abdomen.However, instead of speaking of an arachnid, of the resident of a spindly and dew-laden web, the people who whisper those words are talking about something much different.They’re talking about me.From what I’m told, I’m called the Black Widow because no man I’ve ever loved has survived.Yet, I have no memory of any of it.My new home leads me to the definition of another vague and meaningless word.It’s a place where I’m supposed to seek refuge.A place of retreat and security.It’s a place where I’m supposed to be kept safe because I’m sick.But the definition for this place is wrong and the word becomes meaningless when you’re tucked away and made silent by drugs and pretty white jackets.My name is Alexandra Sutton and this is the story of what happened when I was imprisoned inside an Asylum.

    A love-child, unwittingly passed on from one caretaker to the next, eventually ends up being abandoned and left in the care of her philandering father’s family. She discovers the painful reality that life can be cruel. Trish, a child struggles to understand why she was abandoned by her own mother and tries to deal with the trauma of being sexually abused by various family members. Can Trish, now an adult heal from the pain of a childhood, tormented by the rape of her mind, body and soul?"Finding Anna is a story that exposes the stark, ugly truths about being abused and abandoned. Child sexual abuse is a social issue that chooses no race, religion, culture and gender, and those who are lucky to survive it carry the welts and wounds deep into their souls for a lifetime. My country in South East Asia has one of the highest child sexual abuse cases. Unfortunately, the government is doing little to raise awareness and create child protection programs to safeguard children from predators.My goal is to reach as many readers as possible and inspire survivors to come out in the open and advocate against child sexual abuse." --Trish Kaye LLeone

    When a tragic accident leaves her favorite aunt unconscious in the intensive care unit, all of her goals suddenly seem trivial. In the days and weeks that follow the accident, irrational fears begin to flood Amy’s mind. Embarrassed, she keeps them to herself, lying to everyone - including her best friend Kat - to cover her strange behavior. Because how do you explain something you don’t understand yourself? When James, a boy with a contagious smile, starts spending time with her, she wishes she could just be herself again: a carefree artist with aspirations to get a scholarship to State. But as the unwelcomed thoughts escalate, Amy finds herself unsure of everything. When Amy learns she has OCD, she begins a journey of self-discovery which will shape the rest of her life. It all starts with admitting something so simple but so difficult - the truth.

    Instant stink of burnt rubber, glimpse of an arm flying up.Only the signpost slamming into the side window stopped Carly’s momentum. Glass crunched. Then there was nothing.” Since the car accident, Carly hasn’t changed that much. She’s still yelling at her family, rebelling, alienating most people. Only now she has reasons to be angry. The guy she liked is heading to jail for causing the accident. His mate was killed. Carly’s best friend Suzie is now wheelchair-bound. And a complete stranger is dead. Life sucks, and Carly’s coping the only way she can.If she can’t pull herself together, everything will fall apart.But what can you do when your face is half full of tiny glass pieces?

    Seasons change. With bipolar disorder, so do moods. Pretty Good Year is a poetry anthology, but it is also an account of one man's year-long swing between mania and depression. Rex Emerson Jackson uses language and rhythm to give voice to the psychiatric condition that affects 5.7 million American adults and their loved ones.

    It includes notes and poetry. Some of it is happy. Some of it is motivational. Some of it is empowering. All of it is honest.Warning: includes swear words and mentions of depression, mental illness, trauma, injections, food, blood + scars.

    The volume showcases treatment approaches that can be tailored to this population's needs, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and mindful self-compassion (MSC), among others. Featuring vivid case material, the book explores which elements of contemplative traditions support recovery and how to apply them safely. Neurobiological foundations of mindfulness-oriented work are examined. Treatment applications are illustrated for specific trauma populations, such as clients with chronic pain, military veterans, and children and adolescents.

    But what happens when the dominant struggles with a mental illness or some kind of neurological disorder? Some would say that these individuals shouldn’t even be doing power exchange, and yet many are – and they are making it work. This book is an anthology of the experiences of brave dominants who strive to be honorable and effective in the face of these odds, and the people who gladly serve them. These stories are a bouquet of triumph and loyalty, and an inspiration to every practitioner of power dynamics who reads them.