Mental health services tend to view and treat mental health problems in an individual-centric way. This book argues for an alternative route to recovery that is cognizant of our social nature, needs and difficulties. Focusing on the therapeutic value of meeting others with similar experiences, it explores how mutual support can help ease the distress of mental health problems and foster emotional and psychological wellbeing. The author provides an overview of the theory, history and processes of mutual support, including how it can be understood from a developmental perspective and its importance in normalising and validating experiences and lessening feelings of isolation. She provides in-depth summaries of various approaches that harness mutual support including group therapy and therapeutic communities. Clear guidance is given on how to access, set up and facilitate mutual support groups, along with detailed information on services and organisations that utilise mutual support in the UK and beyond. This book will provide both mental health professionals and those experiencing mental health difficulties with essential information on mutual support, and the positive impact it can have on people's lives.

*Highly Commended in the Psychiatry Category of the 2011 BMA Book Awards* Working with Suicidal Individuals provides a comprehensive guide to understanding suicide, the assessment of risk, and the treatment and management of suicidal individuals. It begins by covering the theory behind suicidal behaviour, using Transactional Analysis to explore the personality types of suicidal individuals and to understand their motivations. Factors that contribute to an individual becoming suicidal, such as mental illness, are also explored. A comprehensive system for the assessment of suicide risk is provided, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Finally, the author discusses different ways suicidal and pseudo-suicidal individuals can be managed and treated, including the 'no suicide contract' and redecision therapy. Case studies are included throughout to demonstrate the theory and practice. This book will be essential reading for all those working with a suicidal or at-risk individual, including practitioners in health, social work, psychotherapy, psychology and counselling.

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

Hundreds of thousands of the inmates who populate the nation's jails and prison systems today are identified as mentally ill. Many experts point to the deinstitutionalization of mental hospitals in the 1960s, which led to more patients living on their own, as the reason for this high rate of incarceration. But this explanation does not justify why our society has chosen to treat these people with punitive measures.In ""Crime, Punishment, and Mental Illness"", Patricia E. Erickson and Steven K. Erickson explore how societal beliefs about free will and moral responsibility have shaped current policies and they identify the differences among the goals, ethos, and actions of the legal and health care systems. Drawing on high-profile cases, the authors provide a critical analysis of topics, including legal standards for competency, insanity versus mental illness, sex offenders, psychologically disturbed juveniles, the injury and death rates of mentally ill prisoners due to the inappropriate use of force, the high level of suicide, and the release of mentally ill individuals from jails and prisons who have received little or no treatment.

This reader consists of diverse writings about Gould Farm, considered the nation's oldest residential rehabilitation community. The Farm now assists those with persistent mental illness. Informed by a Christianity that was neither sectarian nor doctrinaire, yet steeped in the Sermon on the Mount, Will Gould and his wife, Agnes, founded the Farm in 1913. In addition to serving those who arrive at Gould Farm as "guests," the Farm has assisted refugees during World War II, hosted civil rights activists in the 1950s and 1960s, and sponsored three Vietnamese brothers who fled their country in the 1970s. More recently, the Farm hosted a family navigating the loss of a loved one in Iraq. One Hundred Years of Service Through Community includes essays, letters, and book excerpts about Gould Farm written over the last 100 years including pieces by theologian James Luther Adams, author Rosemary Antin, sociologist Henrik F. Infield, Haverford College's Douglas V. Steere, and Appalachian Trail founder Benton MacKaye. The book also includes a story of a brief encounter in 1961 between a Gould Farm executive director, a guest, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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.

While mental health is a core subject on the social work curriculum, many students find the breadth of the subject difficult to grasp. There is much to understand from law, policy and legislation, to ethical and value-based considerations. This book is written as an introduction to the complex issues around mental health. Law and policy are outlined whilst the author gives space to ethical considerations when working alongside the most vulnerable in society. There are clear links between policy, legislation and social work practice and learning features mean students can begin to think critically about a variety of mental health issues. Key updates: A new chapter on the Mental Capacity Act More material on the Personalisation Agenda More material on working with dementia This book is in the Transforming Social Work Practice series. All books in the series are affordable, mapped to the Social Work Curriculum, practical with clear links between theory & practice and written to the Professional Capabilities Framework.

More than fifty million people a year are diagnosed with some form of mental illness. It spares no sex, race, age, ethnicity, or income level. And left untreated, mental disorders can devastate our families and communities. Family members and friends are often the first to realize when someone has a problem, but it is hard to know how to help or where to turn. Our mental health system can feel like a bewildering and frustrating maze. How can you tell that someone has a mental illness? What are the first and best steps for you to take? Where do you go to find the right care?

The Family Guide to Mental Health Care is the first comprehensive print resource for the millions of people who have loved ones suffering from some kind of mental illness. In this book, families can find the answers to their most urgent questions. What medications are helpful and are some as dangerous as I think? Is there a way to navigate privacy laws so I can discuss my adult daughter s treatment with her doctor? Is my teenager experiencing typical adolescent distress or an illness? From understanding depression, bipolar illness and anxiety to eating and traumatic disorders, schizophrenia, and much more, readers will learn what to do and how to help.

Real-life scenarios and authoritative information are written in a compassionate, reader-friendly way, including checklists to bring to a doctor s appointment so you can ask the right questions. For readers who fear they will never see the light at the end of the tunnel, this book gives hope and a path forward.

As one of the nation s leading voices on quality care in mental health, Dr. Lloyd Sederer has played a singular role in advancing services for those with mental illness. Now, the wealth of his expertise and clear guidance is at your disposal. From the first signs of a problem to sorting through the variety of treatment options, you and your family will be able to walk into a doctor s office know what to do and what to ask."