Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America


Robert Whitaker - 2010
    What is going on? Anatomy of an Epidemic challenges readers to think through that question themselves. First, Whitaker investigates what is known today about the biological causes of mental disorders. Do psychiatric medications fix “chemical imbalances” in the brain, or do they, in fact, create them? Researchers spent decades studying that question, and by the late 1980s, they had their answer. Readers will be startled—and dismayed—to discover what was reported in the scientific journals. Then comes the scientific query at the heart of this book: During the past fifty years, when investigators looked at how psychiatric drugs affected long-term outcomes, what did they find? Did they discover that the drugs help people stay well? Function better? Enjoy good physical health? Or did they find that these medications, for some paradoxical reason, increase the likelihood that people will become chronically ill, less able to function well, more prone to physical illness?  This is the first book to look at the merits of psychiatric medications through the prism of long-term results. Are long-term recovery rates higher for medicated or unmedicated schizophrenia patients? Does taking an antidepressant decrease or increase the risk that a depressed person will become disabled by the disorder? Do bipolar patients fare better today than they did forty years ago, or much worse? When the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) studied the long-term outcomes of children with ADHD, did they determine that stimulants provide any benefit?  By the end of this review of the outcomes literature, readers are certain to have a haunting question of their own: Why have the results from these long-term studies—all of which point to the same startling conclusion—been kept from the public?  In this compelling history, Whitaker also tells the personal stories of children and adults swept up in this epidemic. Finally, he reports on innovative programs of psychiatric care in Europe and the United States that are producing good long-term outcomes. Our nation has been hit by an epidemic of disabling mental illness, and yet, as Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, the medical blueprints for curbing that epidemic have already been drawn up.

Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy


Francine Shapiro - 2012
    When we are stuck, talk therapy often fails to produce the needed connections between the old emotional memory and a more grounded view of reality, and medications can have dire side effects and limited effectiveness.   In Getting Past Your Past, Francine Shapiro, who created EMDR (the “eye movement” therapy), opens the door to a scientifically proven mode of treatment used by thousands of clinicians worldwide. The book offers practical procedures that demystify the process and empower readers looking to break free from emotional roadblocks. Shapiro explains the brain science in layman’s terms and provides simple exercises that readers can do at home to achieve real change.   “I always came out of my EMDR therapist’s office reeling (in a good way); and the things I learnedhave stayed with me and enriched my conscious mind. It’s a powerful process. I recommend it.”—from The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon

Emergency Doctor


Edward Ziegler - 1987
    It's a bizarre parade of humanity looking for help -- in the one place they know they can find it.Welcome to the frontline trenches of medicine: the emergency room of the legendary Bellevue Hospital. Here, an army of doctors and nurses faces the onslaught of young and old, rich and ragged, sick and dying. All day, all night. All year.This is their story -- an around-the-clock drama of the unexpected: a crane falling on a hapless pedestrian; a crazed executive wearing two-thirds of a three-piece suit; a pretty paralegal aide struggling with an on-the-job cocaine overdose; a trauma victim of an East River helicopter crash clinging to life. It's terrifying, tragic, triumphant ... and true.

Becoming a Therapist: What Do I Say, and Why?


Suzanne Bender - 2002
    Suzanne Bender, at the time a junior clinician, and Edward Messner, a seasoned practitioner and supervisor, provide a unique, combined perspective on how therapy is conducted, what works and what doesn't work in treatment, and how to take care of oneself as a clinician. Organized around the treatment of one fictitious patient, with other case examples brought in as needed, the book speaks directly to the questions, concerns, and insecurities that beginning therapists typically face. Written with candor and empathy, it offers authoritative guidance for understanding and resolving common clinical dilemmas.

This Won't Hurt a Bit: (And Other White Lies): My Education in Medicine and Motherhood


Michelle Au - 2011
    Unlike most medical memoirs, however, this one details the author's struggles to maintain a life outside of the hospital, in the small amount of free time she had to live it. And, after she and her husband have a baby early in both their medical residencies, Au explores the demands of being a parent with those of a physician, two all-consuming jobs in which the lives of others are very literally in her hands.Au's stories range from hilarious to heartbreaking and hit every note in between, proving more than anything that the creation of a new doctor (and a new parent) is far messier, far more uncertain, and far more gratifying than one could ever expect.

Something for the Pain: Compassion and Burnout in the ER


Paul Austin - 2009
    Gritty, powerful, and ultimately redemptive, Something for the Pain is a revealing glimpse into the fragility of compassion and sanity in the industrial setting of today’s hospitals.

The Rented Mule


Bobby Cole - 2014
    But for Cooper, things aren't turning out how he expected. He and Kelly are caught in a never-ending cycle of arguments; Cooper can't remember the last time they had sex. And Cooper's troubled business partner, Gates Ballenger, is scheming to sell the Tower Agency out from under him.When a gang of criminals is hired by a mysterious client to kidnap Kelly and set up Cooper to take the fall, Cooper's life goes completely off the rails. The cops quickly zero in on Cooper as the prime suspect, and the combination of an attractive suburban mother, workaholic husband, and a million-dollar insurance policy makes the case primetime television fodder.Soon, Cooper's face is plastered on every TV screen in the country. Cooper races against time to find his wife before the gang turns her over to their client, whose plan to take down Cooper is far more sinister than anyone could imagine.

John Shaw's Closeups in Nature


John Shaw - 1987
    One of the country's foremost nature photographers offers closeup techniques and covers exposure, equipment and composition along with special equipments and lenses.

The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands


Eric J. Topol - 2015
    You'll make an appointment months in advance. You'll probably wait for several hours until you hear "the doctor will see you now"—but only for fifteen minutes! Then you'll wait even longer for lab tests, the results of which you'll likely never see, unless they indicate further (and more invasive) tests, most of which will probably prove unnecessary (much like physicals themselves). And your bill will be astronomical.In The Patient Will See You Now, Eric Topol, one of the nation’s top physicians, shows why medicine does not have to be that way. Instead, you could use your smartphone to get rapid test results from one drop of blood, monitor your vital signs both day and night, and use an artificially intelligent algorithm to receive a diagnosis without having to see a doctor, all at a small fraction of the cost imposed by our modern healthcare system.The change is powered by what Topol calls medicine's "Gutenberg moment." Much as the printing press took learning out of the hands of a priestly class, the mobile internet is doing the same for medicine, giving us unprecedented control over our healthcare. With smartphones in hand, we are no longer beholden to an impersonal and paternalistic system in which "doctor knows best." Medicine has been digitized, Topol argues; now it will be democratized. Computers will replace physicians for many diagnostic tasks, citizen science will give rise to citizen medicine, and enormous data sets will give us new means to attack conditions that have long been incurable. Massive, open, online medicine, where diagnostics are done by Facebook-like comparisons of medical profiles, will enable real-time, real-world research on massive populations. There's no doubt the path forward will be complicated: the medical establishment will resist these changes, and digitized medicine inevitably raises serious issues surrounding privacy. Nevertheless, the result—better, cheaper, and more human health care—will be worth it.Provocative and engrossing, The Patient Will See You Now is essential reading for anyone who thinks they deserve better health care. That is, for all of us.

Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents


Russell A. Barkley - 1995
    From internationally renowned ADHD expert Russell A. Barkley, the book empowers parents by arming them with the knowledge, expert guidance, and confidence they need. Included are:*A step-by-step plan for behavior management that has helped thousands of children.*Current information on medications, including coverage of Strattera and extended-release stimulants.*Strategies that help children succeed at school and in social situations.*Advances in research on the causes of ADHD.*Practical advice on managing stress and keeping peace in the family.*Descriptions of books, organizations, and Internet resources that families can trust.

The Woman Who Swallowed a Toothbrush: And Other Weird Medical Case Histories


Rob Myers - 2003
    Myers in his quest for unusual case studies as he unravels medical mysteries.

Playing Sick?: Untangling the Web of Munchausen Syndrome, Munchausen by Proxy, Malingering, and Factitious Disorder


Marc D. Feldman - 2004
    Based on years of research and clinical practice, Playing Sick? provides the clues that can help practitioners and family members recognize these disorders, avoid invasive procedures, and sort out the motives that drive people to hurt themselves and deceive others. With insight and years of hands-on experience, Feldman shows how to get these emotionally ill patients the psychiatric help they need.

Medical Histology


Laiq Hussain Siddiqui - 1982
    

Favorite Greek Myths


Bob Blaisdell - 1995
    This entertaining collection — excellently retold for young audiences by Bob Blaisdell — invites children to relive the memorable experiences of familiar characters from Greek mythology.Taken directly from the writings of Homer, Hesiod, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, and other ancient storytellers, the myths recount the stirring and imaginative tales of Pandora's box, Prometheus, the dreaded Cyclops, the labors of the mighty Hercules, the captivating stories of Narcissus and Echo, Aphrodite and Eros, Daedalus and Icarus, Hades and Persephone, and many more.Set in large, easy-to-read type and enhanced by six full-page black-and-white illustrations, these enduring fables from the fountainhead of Western civilization will thrill and delight new generations of adventure-seekers.

Lost in the Mirror: An Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder


Rick Moskovitz - 1996
    "Lost in the Mirror" takes readers behind the erratic behavior of this puzzling disorder, examining its underlying causes and revealing the unimaginable pain and fear beneath its surface.