Cognitive Strategies for Suicide Prevention, Addiction And Anxiety


Book Description

The author has been a psychiatrist for thirty-nine years and has worked with thousands of patients. His impression is that many of their problems have to do with the way they process or deal with information. Often, maladaptive pathways of thinking are employed to the person's detriment. When this occurs, it tends to be repeated again and again and becomes habitual. Eventually, symptoms such as anxiety, depression, suicidal feelings and addiction are generated and become more and more problematic. In the author's experience, this can be interrupted by mentally training oneself to only travel down adaptive pathways of thinking. With this approach, old pathways of thinking are abandoned. There are a number of techniques that can be employed to establish and reinforce newer adaptive pathways of thinking. It's not for everybody and should not be used exclusively, but first and foremost among techniques is mindfulness. The author has seen it work again and again. Introduced to the world by Buddha for the purpose of enlightenment, nowadays it is used for mental health issues. The mindfulness here is different from the type taught in DBT. The author is not saying that DBT mindfulness doesn't work; it's just that he has seen better outcomes with the type he teaches. He learned the basics of it at IMS at Barre, Massachusetts, during various meditation retreats. Modern psychology does not address the invisible spiritual worlds that interface with the physical world. According to religious teachings, these worlds really exist and forces from them can influence our thinking. Reportedly, an archangel rebelled against God and was booted out of heaven. A third of the angels went down with him to earth. They seek to have us act in such a way so that when we die, they can claim our souls and torture us in hell. The present work at least addresses this issue. Likewise, energy medicine is discussed briefly.




Reducing Suicide


Book Description

Every year, about 30,000 people die by suicide in the U.S., and some 650,000 receive emergency treatment after a suicide attempt. Often, those most at risk are the least able to access professional help. Reducing Suicide provides a blueprint for addressing this tragic and costly problem: how we can build an appropriate infrastructure, conduct needed research, and improve our ability to recognize suicide risk and effectively intervene. Rich in data, the book also strikes an intensely personal chord, featuring compelling quotes about people's experience with suicide. The book explores the factors that raise a person's risk of suicide: psychological and biological factors including substance abuse, the link between childhood trauma and later suicide, and the impact of family life, economic status, religion, and other social and cultural conditions. The authors review the effectiveness of existing interventions, including mental health practitioners' ability to assess suicide risk among patients. They present lessons learned from the Air Force suicide prevention program and other prevention initiatives. And they identify barriers to effective research and treatment. This new volume will be of special interest to policy makers, administrators, researchers, practitioners, and journalists working in the field of mental health.




Cognitive Therapy for Suicidal Patients


Book Description

"Cognitive Therapy for Suicidal Patients: Scientific and Clinical Applications crystallizes more than 3 decades of basic, clinical, and therapeutic research, providing a comprehensive review of the psychological factors associated with suicidal behavior. The authors describe their cognitive model of suicide, the instruments they developed to classify and assess suicidal behavior, and effective cognitive intervention techniques for suicidal individuals. The book includes a step-by-step protocol for cognitive therapy that is vividly illustrated in an extended case study. Individual chapters are dedicated to applying the protocol with special populations and overcoming challenges when working with suicidal patients."--pub. desc.




Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders


Book Description

Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders. Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.




Anxiety and Substance Use Disorders


Book Description

Disorders of anxiety and substance use are, for some reason, rarely treated in an integrated fashion by professionals. This timely volume addresses this glaring omission with dispatches from the frontlines of research and treatment. Thirty-four international experts offer findings, theories, and intervention strategies for this common form of dual disorder, across a range of substances and of anxiety disorders, to give the reader comprehensive knowledge in a practical format.




Promoting Behavioral Health and Reducing Risk among College Students


Book Description

Promoting Behavioral Health and Reducing Risk Among College Students synthesizes the large body of research on college students’ behavioral health and offers guidance on applying evidence-based prevention and early intervention strategies using a comprehensive public health framework. Chapters authored by leading researchers and practitioners address a broad spectrum of important behavioral health issues, interventions, and challenges. Moving beyond a theoretical discussion to strategies for implementation, this book addresses the special issues and potential barriers faced by practitioners as they translate research to practice, such as resource limitations, organizational resistance, challenges to program sustainability, and the unique needs of special populations. This cutting-edge compendium will appeal to both practitioners and researchers involved in providing prevention, early intervention, and treatment services for college students.







American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines


Book Description

The aim of the American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline series is to improve patient care. Guidelines provide a comprehensive synthesis of all available information relevant to the clinical topic. Practice guidelines can be vehicles for educating psychiatrists, other medical and mental health professionals, and the general public about appropriate and inappropriate treatments. The series also will identify those areas in which critical information is lacking and in which research could be expected to improve clinical decisions. The Practice Guidelines are also designed to help those charged with overseeing the utilization and reimbursement of psychiatric services to develop more scientifically based and clinically sensitive criteria.




Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders


Book Description

This volume reviews the latest information about the treatment and prevention of major mental disorders that emerge during adolescence. It should be a primary resource for both clinicians and researchers, with special attention to gaps in our knowledge.




Suicide Prevention


Book Description

A practical and easy-to-use guide for healthcare professionals on the prevention, assessment and treatment of people at risk of suicide.