Description

This was Chipmunka Publishing's second book release, and one of the most important books on mental illness ever written. A book that in the words of the author, "started out a suicide note and ended up a celebration of life." Dolly's outstanding memoir is the gripping tale of a woman's fight to come to terms with abuse, family pressures, prejudice and severe mental ill health. Sen describes the horrible reality of being diagnosed with both manic depression and schizophrenia and the prejudice she faced. Add to this a series of horrific experiences in her life, and it is remarkable how she has the strength to come through such events, writing with such vigour, optimism and warmness.

About the Author

Born in 1970, she had her first psychotic experience aged 14 which lead her to leave school. After years of mental illness, probably bought on by an abusive childhood, Dolly decided she should write about her experiences. She was inspired to write her own story after reading Jason Pegler's autobiography 'A Can of Madness'. She has since written five books, become a successful performance poet who has toured throughout Europe and has set up two charities.

Compulsive Sexual Behaviours offers a unique approach to the struggles people face with their out-of-control sexual behaviours. This comprehensive guide is deeply rooted in the science of sexology and psychotherapy, demonstrating why it is time to re-think the reductive concept of 'sex addiction' and move towards a more modern age of evidence-based, pluralistic and sex-positive psychotherapy. It is an important manual for ethical, safe and efficient treatment within a humanistic and relational philosophy. This book will be an important guide in helping clients stop their compulsive sexual behaviours as well as for therapists to self-reflect on their own morals and ethics so that they can be prepared to explore their clients' erotic mind.

Methamphetamine: the quintessential American drug. American housewives, heads of state, businessmen and poets alike have acquired a taste for the yellow, crystalline powder. Everyone from Hitler to President Kennedy to Elvis to Jack Kerouac indulged in one of its many forms, and its presence has been an invisible hand shaping events, preparing the ground for the strangest drug epidemic the world has ever seen. Today methamphetamine is everywhere, and there seems to be no way of stemming its growth.

It is the backbone of Ritalin and the "club drugs" Ecstasy, Eve and Cat. According to the DEA statistics, approximately four percent of all Americans have used clandestinely manufactured methamphetamine. In the 1960s and 1970s millions of mainstream Americans used and abused prescription amphetamines; today, anyone with a stovetop, a beaker, and a little know-how can make its derivative, methamphetamine, with chemicals purchased at the hardware store and pharmacy down the street.

"American Meth" is the unprecedented story of a molecule in all of its incarnations, and the deep but little-known impact it has had on American life over the course of the last century. Told from the viewpoint of author Sterling Braswell, whose life has been touched by the drug, "American Meth" is a deeply personal drama that illuminates the epidemic we live with today.

Few regions on earth have witnessed such rapid social change as the Arabian Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Oman). Wealth from oil and gas has radically transformed the landscapes, lifestyles and human relationships across these nations. Transformation however is seldom painless, and numerous psychosocial challenges have followed the triumphal progress. The psychological implications of the region's meteoric modernization have not received sustained examination until now. Tensions between traditional ways of life, rooted in cultural and Islamic values, and the influx of foreign lifestyles are implicated in the rise of common psychological problems such as depression, addiction and eating disorders. Psychological Well-Being in the Gulf States examines these issues, providing an in-depth exploration of the psychological consequences of transition. This important work also looks at how the region's traditional cultural values may foster resilience against psychological problems, and how these values have a vital role to play in developing effective therapies and culturally grounded prevention strategies.

Compulsive buying is a serious, often secretive affliction, with profound emotional, social, occupational, and financial consequences. As many as a quarter of us have problems with buying, and studies suggest that between one and six percent of the population are full-fledged compulsive buyers. I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self brings together, for the first time, the most important thinking about this disorder. As more and more therapists encounter compulsive buying (whether as a presenting problem or revealed in the course of ongoing therapy), the need for an in-depth clinical understanding of the disorder has grown. Dr. Benson has responded admirably to that need with a practical, comprehensive, and wonderfully readable work. While the book focuses a wide-angled lens on the many aspects of compulsive buying, it emphasizes understanding the disorder as a desperate search for self in people whose identity is not securely established. It defines the syndrome of compulsive consumption, examines the range and variations within it, discusses assessment and associated disorders, and delineates successful treatment modalities. Offering insights from a broad spectrum of therapies psychopharmacology, psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral treatment, couples and group therapy, self-help, and financial counseling this book is an indispensable toolbox for the increasing number of therapists who see patients with shopping, buying, or debting problems. A Jason Aronson Book"

Cutting Down provides a practical and accessible treatment programme based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) principles for young people who self-harm. This fully revised and updated second edition includes new techniques from 'third' wave CBT, Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). This enriches the material and brings the concepts up to date. Another key addition to this new edition is the inclusion of strategies for young people who engage in suicidal behaviour. The manual is evidence based and focuses on a flexible and formulation driven model to direct treatment in around 15 sessions for young people and six sessions for parents and caregivers. It provides a clear structure for each session and an easy-to-follow outline on how the therapist should deliver each session. The content of each session is supported by handouts and worksheets which can be used within sessions or as homework between sessions. Enhanced with online resources, the workbook will be useful for all professionals working with young people who self-harm across a wide range of settings from schools, primary care and voluntary sector, to community mental health services and inpatient units.

"This book is informative and interesting and would be useful both in academic and professional settings."--"Feminism & Psychology"

A special kind of horror is reserved for mothers who kill their children. Cases such as those of Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons by driving her car into a lake, and Melissa Drexler, who disposed of her newborn baby in a restroom at her prom, become media sensations. Unfortunately, in addition to these high-profile cases, hundreds of mothers kill their children in the United States each year. The question most often asked is, why? What would drive a mother to kill her own child?

Those who work with such cases, whether in clinical psychology, social services, law enforcement or academia, often lack basic understandings about the types of circumstances and patterns which might lead to these tragic deaths, and the social constructions of motherhood which may affect women's actions. These mothers oftentimes defy the myths and media exploitation of them as evil, insane, or lacking moral principles, and they are not a homogenous group. In obvious ways, intervention strategies should differ for a teenager who denies her pregnancy and then kills her newborn and a mother who kills her two toddlers out of mental illness or to further a relationship. A typology is needed to help us to understand the different cases that commonly occur and the patterns they follow in order to make possible more effective prevention plans.

Mothers Who Kill Their Children draws on extensive research to identify clear patterns among the cases of women who kill their children, shedding light on why some women commit these acts. The characteristics the authorsestablish will be helpful in creating more meaningful policies, more targeted intervention strategies, and more knowledgeable evaluations of these cases when they arise.

This volume explores service users' lived experiences of mental health recovery within a day centre setting where creative activity and social support were key aspects of the service. These two facets, creative activity and social support are established as conducive to mental health, particularly when in partnership with one another and when there is a venue in which to gather on a regular and frequent basis. McDonnell argues that the uplifting effects of creative activities such as art, music, and creative reading and writing, alongside the communality incorporated into the general ethos and social setting of many of the projects cited, are a positive force for change and that resource allocation and integrated care models should reflect this new paradigm.

The Art of Frenzy presents a masterful analysis of public madness from the Renaissance to the Industrial Age. Frenzy--the most flagrant and political form of madness--is the madness of warrior-heroes, kings, scolds, and the possessed. Its representation incorporates a range of traditional characters and figures, from Hercules and Orlando to Medea and Britannia. Understood as abusive power and belligerence out of control, and described in terms drawn equally from definitions of tyranny and liberty, frenzy has always been articulated with a significant degree of political meaning. Integrating art history with cultural studies, political history, and the history of medicine, Jane Kromm draws on a wide range of mediums and contexts--from asylum sculpture to political broadsheets, medical texts, the imagery of revolution, caricature and medical illustrations--to clarify the importance of this interpretative pattern.

In her latest book, Dr. Louise Kaplan, author of the groundbreaking "Female Perversions, "explores the fetishism strategy, a psychological defense that aims to tame, subdue, and if necessary, murder human vitalities. Through an exploration of such cultural phenomena as footbinding, reality television, and the construction of robots, Kaplan demonstrates how, in a technology-driven world, an understanding of the fetishism strategy can help to preserve the human dialogue that is the basis of all human relationships. Kaplan writes from the heart as well as from the intellect.

There is a moment at every level of psychological development in which the mind comes face to face with a challenge. This moment can last for a literal moment in time or it can extend for years becoming the leading edge of development. Disordered Thought and Development: Chaos to Organization in the Moment explores the processes around that moment. The exploration begins with a psychotic analysand in which these processes loudly reveal themselves. From there, the exploration extends to a young child with pervasive developmental disorder and then on to four other cases, each revealing the elements and dynamics necessary for development to proceed. One of the elements includes the vicissitudes of affect from its raw, unprocessed form that is initially experienced as chaotic bodily sensations without meaning to one that carries meaning, purpose, and direction. Another element is the organizational capacities that help to solve a problem that has never been solved before. The dynamics of the moment can be understood within the context of non-linear systems theory as the mind is conceptualized as a self-organizing system in the process of evolving. This book provides clinicians with a touchstone that can help guide development of all the individuals they are called on to assist whether they are anxious, obsessional, psychotic or neurotic, and whether they are children, adolescents, or adults."

Problem gambling is a perennial issue frequently reported in the media. This book is a comprehensive and up-to-date resource on problem gambling research. It describes the state of the art of the subject and presents the latest developments such as computer modelling of gambling behaviour and risk profiles of gambling products.

What did it mean to be mad in seventeenth-century England? This book uses autobiographical accounts of mental disorder to explore the ways madness was identified and experienced from the inside. Looking at contemporary ideas about mental illness alongside a range of spiritual autobiographies from the period, it asks how certain people came to be defined as insane, and what we can learn from the accounts they wrote. These narratives, with their vivid and immediate descriptions of anxieties, delusions and desires, illuminate not only madness in early modern culture, but also sanity, and demonstrate the fragility of the boundary between the two.