Written directly to individuals who have experienced childhood trauma, this book provides essential information that allows victims to begin recovering from their immense pain and suffering, and empowers them to examine their specific issues in order to become a true survivor. The American Medical Association currently estimates at least one in every five adults suffered abuse as a child. While childhood abuse or trauma is certainly not a new issue, it has reached epidemic proportion. Yet most clinicians have not been sufficiently trained to appreciate or understand the devastating long-term impact of abuse on the total person. John J. Lemoncelli, EdD, authored this book to enable those who suffer in silence to understand what happened, take control, and begin and maintain a program of recovery. It helps those abused in childhood to grasp how their experience impacted their development and the extent to which it negatively affects their present lives; encourages them to let go of the belief that they are damaged, dirty, or at fault; and provides an effective strategy for externalizing the source of their anguish, rather than blaming themselves. The author outlines several stages and common issues that may need to be addressed, but as no "one size fits all" treatment is possible, he provides strategies that empower victims to identify the specific sources of their pain.

Because progressive advancements to healthcare practices are leading to longer lifespans, an increased number of aging individuals now require constant care from practiced caregivers. The financial costs of in-home care can be quite high; therefore, many families are opting to stand in as caregivers, and this can lead to various impacts on their own social and psychological wellbeing. The Mental Health Effects of Informal Caregiving: Emerging Research and Opportunities provides autobiographical accounts and statistical data associated with the caregiving experience, as well as the methods to discern the positive psychological forces that shape the subjective wellbeing of informal caregivers. Highlighting topics such as institutional vs. informal caregiving, special healthcare needs, and veteran care, this book is ideally designed for psychologists, therapists, researchers, medical institutions, academia, and students seeking current research on the subjective wellbeing of informal caregivers.

Digital health is the convergence of digital technologies with health to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery and make healthcare more personalized and precise. These technologies generally focus on the development of interconnected health systems to improve the use of computational technologies, smart devices, computational analysis techniques, and communication media to help healthcare professionals and their patients manage illnesses and health risks, as well as promote health and well-being. Digital tools play a central role in the most promising future healthcare innovations and create tremendous opportunities for a more integrated and value-based system along with a stronger focus on patient outcomes, and as such, having access to the latest research findings and progressions is of paramount importance. The Handbook of Research on Digital Therapies in Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health introduces the latest digital innovations in the mental health field and points out new ways it can be used in patient care while also delving into some of the limits of its application. It presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art approach to digital mental health technologies and practices within the broad confines of psychosocial and mental health practices and also provides a canvas to discuss emerging digital mental health solutions, propelled by the ubiquitous availability of personalized devices and affordable wearable sensors and innovative technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, mobile apps, robots, and intelligent platforms. It is ideal for medical professors and students, researchers, practitioners of healthcare companies, managers, and other professionals where digital health technologies can be used.

In 1997, Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) therapy (Cyberonics, Houston, Texas) was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of epilepsy refractory to antiepileptic medications. In 2005, VNS received FDA approval for treatment-resistant depression refractory to antidepressants, and Cyberonics recently received FDA approval for the clinical study of VNS for rapid cycling bipolar depression. Many researchers continue to investigate the anxiolytic effects of VNS in human and non-human animal models. The author presents a study of VNS effects on anxiety and the capacity of atropine methyl nitrate to attenuate these effects. The results indicate that VNS decreases anxiety in the laboratory animals tested. These findings provide evidence to support the testing and subsequent use of VNS therapy for the treatment of clinical anxiety in humans. Because many therapies that are effective in the treatment of depression effectively treat anxiety, VNS therapy should be effective and approvable for clinical anxiety. This book can serve as a research tool, training mechanism, or surgical guide to the implantation of the vagus nerve stimulating electrode in the laboratory rat. Hopefully, this resource provides information that facilitates FDA approval of VNS for treatment-resistant anxiety, a chronic, devastating and often debilitating illness.

Despite the fact that more than 80 per cent of mental health care users make use of African indigenous practitioners, previous texts on mental health care in Africa have focused predominantly on sharpening Western-based competence, while paying scant attention to local African practices. A more holistic view is needed to reconnect mental health practitioners with the African community where value systems are rooted and transmitted, and thus allow them to provide better care. Mental health care in Africa is an evidence-based practice and research book focusing equally on Western and African indigenous mental health care practices so that the best can be taken from both. Mental health care in Africa starts to exert the African epistemology and ways of practice, without undermining the contribution of Western health care. Including African indigenous knowledge systems (AIKS) allows for broader dialogue and encourages original debate on concepts such as self-determination, informed consent, appropriate and relevant assessment, and care in the mental health arena. Contents include the following: Review of Western psychoeducation and findings in the African indigenous context; Planning and conducting therapeutic groups; Therapeutic interaction in HIV and AIDS care: an African approach; Management of aggressive and violent mental health care users; Sensory stimulation in mental health care users with dementia; Medicinal management; Substance rehabilitation and primary mental health care. Mental health care in Africa is aimed at mental health care practitioners and undergraduate students at universities and nursing colleges.