Buried in Treasures


Book Description

Describes the psychological roots of compulsive hoarding and presents practical strategies for treating and overcoming the behavior.




Recovery of People with Mental Illness


Book Description

It is only in the past 20 years that the concept of 'recovery' from mental health has been more widely considered and researched. Before then, it was generally considered that 'stability' was the best that anyone suffering from a mental disorder could hope for. But now it is recognised that, throughout their mental illness, many patients develop new beliefs, feelings, values, attitudes, and ways of dealing with their disorder. The notion of recovery from mental illness is thus rapidly being accepted and is inserting more hope into mainstream psychiatry and other parts of the mental health care system around the world. Yet, in spite of conceptual and other challenges that this notion raises, including a variety of interpretations, there is scarcely any systematic philosophical discussion of it. This book is unique in addressing philosophical issues - including conceptual challenges and opportunities - raised by the notion of recovery of people with mental illness. Such recovery - particularly in relation to serious mental illness such as schizophrenia - is often not about cure and can mean different things to different people. For example, it can mean symptom alleviation, ability to work, or the striving toward mental well-being (with or without symptoms). The book addresses these different meanings and their philosophical grounds, bringing to the fore perspectives of people with mental illness and their families as well as perspectives of philosophers, mental health care providers and researchers, among others. The important new work will contribute to further research, reflective practice and policy making in relation to the recovery of people with mental illness.It is essential reading for philosophers of health, psychiatrists, and other mental care providers, as well as policy makers.




Wellbeing, Recovery and Mental Health


Book Description

This book brings together two bodies of knowledge - wellbeing and recovery. Wellbeing and 'positive' approaches are increasingly influencing many areas of society. Recovery in mental illness has a growing empirical evidence base. For the first time, overlaps and cross-fertilisation opportunities between the two bodies of knowledge are identified. International experts present innovations taking place within the mental health system, which include wellbeing-informed new therapies, e-health approaches and peer-led recovery communities. State-of-the-art applications of wellbeing to the wider community are also described, across education, employment, parenting and city planning. This book will be of interest to anyone connected with the mental health system, especially people using and working in services, and clinical and administrators leaders, and those interested in using research from the mental health system in the wider community.




Personal Recovery and Mental Illness


Book Description

Focuses on a shift away from traditional clinical preoccupations towards new priorities of supporting the patient.




Intentional Peer Support


Book Description

Intentional Peer Support: An Alternative Approach is an innovative curriculum that explores ways to create mutually supportive relationships. It includes appendices for peer support warmlines, peer-run respite programs, and resources for peers working in the mental health system. Topics include:What is Peer Support?The Four Tasks and Three PrinciplesFirst Contact and LanguageListening DifferentlyBuilding Trauma-Informed & Mutually Responsible RelationshipsWorking with Challenging Situations and Negotiating ConflictSelf-Care/Relational Care/Work CareUsing Co-ReflectionPeer Support Competencies and ValuesAnd More...




The Lives They Left Behind


Book Description

More than four hundred abandoned suitcases filled with patients' belongings were found when Willard Psychiatric Center closed in 1995 after 125 years of operation. In this fully-illustrated social history, they are skillfully examined and compared to the written record to create a moving-and devastating-group portrait of twentieth-century American psychiatric care.




On Our Own


Book Description

This is a book about psychiatry and alternatives to it, written from a patient's point of view. For too long, mental patients have been faceless, voiceless people. We have been thought of, at worst, as subhuman monsters, or, at best, as pathetic cripples, who might be able to hold down menial jobs and eke out meagre existences, given constant professional support. Not only have others thought of us in this stereotyped way, we have believed it of ourselves. It is only in this decade, with the emergence and growth of the mental patients' liberation movement, that we ex-patients have begun to shake off this distorted image and to see ourselves for what we are- a diverse group of people, with strengths and weaknesses, abilities and needs, and ideas of our own. Our ideas about our "care" and "treatment" at the hands of psychiatry, about the nature of "mental illness," and about new and better ways to deal with (and truly to help) people undergoing emotional crises differ drastically from those of mental health professionals.




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