Abnormal psychology Books

Book SynopsisA challenging reappraisal of the history of antipsychotics, revealing how they were transformed from neurological poisons into magical cures, their benefits exaggerated and their toxic effects minimized or ignored.Trade Review"This book will make an enormous contribution towards a more rational, transparent and ethical approach to the use of neuroleptic drugs. By implication it also offers up a strong argument for much wider choice for people in crisis, particularly the provision of minimal drug/drug-free systems of help and support, such as Soteria-type facilities and Open Dialogue. It is a must-read for all psychiatrists and mental health professionals, and its accessibility means that many survivors/service users and carers will find it a valuable ally in their fight for more humane and less harmful alternatives to psychiatric drug treatment." - Philip Thomas, University of Bradford, UK 'a meticulous, balanced history of antipsychotic drugs' - Nature 'All in all, this is a brilliantly clear-eyed, informative, well-referenced and at times disturbing book which should be essential reading for clinicians, policy-makers and patients alike.' - Psychosis: Psychological, Social and Integrative Approaches 'Joanna Moncrieff's courageous research continues to point out that the emperor, while dressed, is wearing the wrong clothes for the job.' - Therapy Today 'Psychiatrist Moncrieff [...] offers a refreshingly critical look at the motivation behind atypical antipsychotic drug use from the pharmaceutical standpoint as well as the pharmacological basis, or lack thereof, in some cases.' - Choice 'This schematic account cannot do justice to the tightness of the arguments and numerous illustrative examples with which Dr Moncrieff charts the all-important transition from the drug-centred to the disease-centred model and its adverse consequences.' - BrainTable of ContentsPreface 1. Cure or Curse? 2. Chlorpromazine 3. Magic Bullets 4. Building a House of Cards 5. The Phoenix Rises 6. Looking Where the Light is 7. The Patient's Dilemma 8. Antipsychotics as Chemical Cosh 9. Old and New Drug-Induced Problems 10. The First Tentacles 11. The Antipsychotic Epidemic 12. All is Not as it Seems

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a critical evaluation of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Starting from a historical overview of the evolution in psychiatric diagnosis, Vanheule asserts that the diagnostic reliability of the DSM-5 is overrated: important factors that undermine its diagnostic reliability have never been sufficiently addressed and the common idea that the handbook is reliable rests on a biased interpretation of statistical data. The book argues that the DSM-5 builds on a narrow biomedical approach to mental disorders that neglects context, and proposes its replacement with a contextualizing model of mental health symptoms. Drawing from phenomenological psychiatry and Lacanian psychoanalysis, the author concludes that a reflexive account of psychopathology is urgently needed.Trade Review“Vanheule’s book is of special importance for people working in the helping professions. In particular, it offers clinicians, educators and students in training – regardless of framework – ways of formulating the pressing presence of the medical model. … For those who are in any kind of psychotherapy-training programme, this book can offer a complex picture of current the idealisations at work around the clinical imagination in conversation with their historical, clinical and social aspects.” (Aziz Guzel, Psychodynamic Practice, March, 2017)“Stijn Vanheule’s book is very important and should be read by anyone who works with people with mental disorders such as psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers and care workers. It should also be read by anyone who is interested in studying the field of mental disorders such as researchers, academics and scholars.” (Rik Loose, Lacunae, Vol. 2 (1), 2014)Table of Contents1. Dynamics of Decision Making in the DSM: the Issue of Reliability 2. Context and Diagnosis in the DSM: the Issue of Validity

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Book SynopsisPart of the bestselling Surrounded by Idiots series!Internationally bestselling author Thomas Erikson shares the secrets of dealing with everyday narcissists.Are the narcissists in your life making you miserable? Are you worn out by their constant demands for attention, their absolute conviction they are right (even when they're clearly not), their determination to do whatever they want (regardless of the impact), and their baffling need to control everyone and everything around them?In this thought-provoking, sanity-saving book, Thomas Erikson helps you understand what makes narcissists tick and, crucially, how to handle them without wearing yourself out in the process. With the help of the simple, four-color behavioral model made famous in Surrounded by Idiots, Erikson provides all the tools you need to manage not just the narcissists around you but everyday narcissistic behaviors as wellsomething that is becoming more widespread

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestsellerOne of the top ten books of the year at The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, Vulture/New York magazineA best book of the year at Los Angeles Times, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Bookforum, The New Yorker, Vogue, KirkusThe acclaimed, award-winning New Yorker writer Rachel Aviv offers a groundbreaking exploration of mental illness and the mind, and illuminates the startling connections between diagnosis and identity.Strangers to Ourselves poses fundamental questions about how we understand ourselves in periods of crisis and distress. Drawing on deep, original reporting as well as unpublished journals and memoirs, Rachel Aviv writes about people who have come up against the limits of psychiatric explanations for who they are. She follows an Indian woman celebra

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Book SynopsisThe harrowing, insightful, and courageous account of a prominent man''s struggle with multiple personalitiesRobert Oxnam was a high-profile, successful man: A renowned scholar and president of the Asia Society, he appeared frequently on television and traveled the world as a sought-after expert. But what the millions of people who''d seen him didn''t know--what even those closest to him didn''t know--was that Oxnam suffered from multiple personality disorder. It was only after an intervention staged by family and friends, in response to frequent blackouts and episodic rages assumed to be alcohol-driven, that he sought treatment with Dr. Jeffery Smith; the first of his eleven personalities emerged in a session in 1990. After years of treatment, he has integrated them into three: Robert, Wanda, and Bobby, who take turns narrating this remarkable, unprecedented chronicle.

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