Veronica Burton's first experience of depression came as a teenager. Following a ten year remission, during which she gained her general nursing qualification and completed her Special and Intensive Nursing of the Newborn course, work-related events precipitated a depressive relapse that has lasted to the present day. Since her retirement on medical grounds, she has campaigned against prejudice by nurses toward other nurses - including mental health nurses - who need psychological support of any kind. This book recounts the author's experiences of major depression, hospital admissions and treatments including medication, ECT and 'talking treatments'. It discusses the care given by medical and nursing staff and social and medical prejudices against those with psychiatric illnesses from a medical practitioner's perspective. Like stumbling on a secret room in a familiar building. In illuminating these previously inaccessible corners of her illness experience, she forces me to challenge my own taken-for-granted version of her history. Familiar territory seen from another perspective suddenly seems perturbing. As psychiatrists, too often we are drawn into seeing people through a lens of illness, as if this was their only identity.A" Veronica Burton's Psychiatrist Nick Rose in his Postscript

African American women have commonly been portrayed as "pillars" of their communities -- resilient mothers, sisters, wives, and grandmothers who remain steadfast in the face of all adversities. While these portrayals imply that African American women have few psychological problems, the scientific literature and demographic data present a different picture. They reveal that African American women are at increased risk for psychological distress because of factors that disproportionately affect them, including lower incomes, greater poverty and unemployment, unmarried motherhood, racism, and poor physical health. Yet at the same time, rates of mental illness are low. This invaluable book is the first comprehensive examination of the contradictions between the strengths and vulnerabilities of this population. Using the contexts of race, gender, and social class, "In and Out of Our Right Minds" challenges the traditional notions of mental health and mental illness as they apply to African American women.

Patients in psychiatric care can behave in ways that can be alarming for staff, and difficult to respond to. The authors of this practical and imaginative book explain why patients may behave in these ways, and offer a toolkit of ways to respond effectively and kindly. With many everyday examples of how to keep the space positive and safe, and patients calm, this book could transform your working life.

Research has established the potential direct and indirect impacts of mental illness on parenting, the parent-child relationship, and the child, and the extent to which this poses a public health challenge. Problems with how adult and children's services understand and deliver support to parents with mental health problems and their children have also been identified. In contrast, far less is known about how parents with mental health difficulties and their children can be supported successfully. The primary aim of Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Work Volume 1: A Pavilion Annual 2016 is to begin to address this gap in research by capturing different perspectives (policy, research, professional and family) about what constitutes success and the contributions that lead to success. The annual will, share this information, tools and resources, in ways that are accessible, useful, and usable by, the broad range of professional groups involved in this complex area of practice. Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Work Volume 1: A Pavilion Annual 2016 forms the first volume of Pavilion's new Annual series, which act as a yearly update on key research, policy developments and practice innovations, in the UK and elsewhere.

Increasingly, voices in the growing neurodiversity movement are alleging that individuals who are neurologically divergent, such as those with conditions related to bipolar disorder, autism, schizophrenia, and depression, must struggle for their civil rights. This movement therefore raises questions of interest to scholars in the humanities and social sciences, as well as to concerned members of the general public. These questions have to do with such matters as the accessibility of knowledge about mental health; autonomy and community within the realm of the mentally ill; and accommodation in civil society and its institutions. The contributors to Ethics and Neurodiversity explore these questions, and the traditional philosophical questions related to them. The authors pay special attention to the need to examine the policies and practices of institutions, such as higher education, social support, and healthcare.