Do you seek to be less reactive, less judgmental, and more understanding of others? Using techniques of active understanding, you can find a healthier way of interacting with the people in your life.

In this self-help guide, retired psychiatrist Charles DeLong shares what he learned after three decades of private practice psychotherapy. He provides theories, examples, and steps to guide you through how to use active understanding to approach yourself, others, and the world.

Using active understanding principles helps us "get beyond ourselves" so that we can stay connected to the external reality. This not only increases our ability to adapt, but is also safer and more satisfying than being dependent upon the environment. What's more, it allows us to grow emotionally, evolve our personalities, and live with personal integrity.

Active understanding teaches us to

- stay in the here-and-now reality

- not take anything personally

- resist narcissistic defaults

- stop judging others

Discover the deeper meaning behind your emotions and learn simple ways of improving your relationships and your life.

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE NEW SCIENCE OF PSYCHEDELICS. Psychedelics are big news. From micro-dosing to mushroom clinics to celebrity-endorsed ayahuasca retreats in Peru, they are moving ever more into mainstream consciousness. But psychedelics are also set to change the face of medicine, our treatment for mental health conditions like depression, and our understanding of the human brain. Rooted in his team's world-leading research in the brain imaging of psychedelics, as well as years of hands-on experience treating patients, in Psychedelics Professor David Nutt will correct myths and misconceptions, equip us with the information to make informed decisions, and answer all your questions about this medical revolution.

This book explores social constructionism and the language of mental distress. Mental health research has traditionally been dominated by genetic and biomedical explanations that provide only partial explanations. However, process research that utilises qualitative methods has grown in popularity. Situated within this new strand of research, the authors examine and critically assess some of the different contributions that social constructionism has made to the study of mental distress and to how those diagnosed are conceptualized and labeled. This will be an invaluable introduction and source of practical strategies for academics, researchers and students as well as clinical practitioners, mental health professionals, and others working with mental health such as educationalists and social workers.

Inhaltsverzeichnis Autorenverzeichnis Einleitung Allgemeine psychopathologische Aspekte 'Age at onset' - Ein Hinweis fur das Verstandnis psychopathologischer Phanomene (H. G. Zapotoczky, P. Hofmann) - Einleitung - Major Depression - Schizophrenie - Schizoaffektive Stoerung - Hypochondrischer, Verfolgungs- und Eifersuchtswahn - Bipolare Stoerungen - Dysthymie - Angststoerungen - Zwangsstoerungen - Somatoforme Stoerungen - Essstoerungen - Abhangigkeiten - Zusammenfassende Erlauterungen Denk- und Gefuhlswelt des Schulkindes - kognitive Fahigkeiten, Selbstkonzept und Angst (C. Spiel, U. Sirsch) - Einleitung - Menschliche Entwicklung: Kontinuitat oder Diskontinuitat? - Jean Piagets Strukturmodell der geistigen Entwicklung - Selbstkonzept - Angst im Schulalter - Zur Beziehung zwischen kognitiven Fahigkeiten, Selbstkonzept und Angst - lernspsychologische Implikationen Risikoverhalten und seelische Stoerungen in Pubertat und Adoleszenz (F. Resch) - Zu den Begriffen Pubertat und Adoleszenz - Entwicklungspsychopathologie - Entwicklungsaufgaben der Adoleszenz - Risikoverhaltensweisen der Adoleszenz - Typische Stoerungsbilder des Adoleszenzalters - Entwicklungsschema psychopathologischer Phanomene im Jugendalter Das Netzwerkmodell in der Individualpsychologie aus erkenntnistheoretischer Sicht (G. G. Rovera) - Einleitung - Epistemologie - Entwicklungszyklen des Lebens - Vom Gemeinschaftsgefuhl zur Zusammenarbeit innerhalb der - Gemeinschaft - Transkulturelle Argumente und Wertorientierung - Ansatze zum Lebensstil - Schlussfolgerung Krisen im mittleren Lebensalter: 'Lebensmitte - Wendezeit' (M. Steinbauer) - Soziologisch-historische Aspekte - Soziokulturelle Aspekte - Physiologische Aspekte Die Glorifizierung der Kindheit in der Erinnerung alterer Menschen (A. Fasching) Die spezifischen psychiatrischen Stoerungen im Lichteverschiedener Lebensepochen Psychogene Stoerungen (G. Langs, V. Lupke) - Somatoforme Stoerungen - Angststoerungen - Psychogene Stoerungen - Stoerungen eines Lebensalters? Affektive Stoerungen (H. G. Zapotoczky) Schizophrene und schizophreniforme Stoerungen (H. Fabisch, K. Fabisch, P. K. Fischhof) - Zum Begriff 'Schizophrenie' - Die Schizophrenien im Kindes- und Jugendalter - Die Schizophrenien im fruhen Erwachsenenalter - Die Schizophrenien im mittleren und spateren Erwachsenenalter - Abschliessende Bemerkung Schizoaffektive Stoerungen (P. K. Fischhof, K. Fabisch, H. Fabisch) - Zur Entwicklung des Konzeptes schizoaffektiver Stoerungen - Diagnostische Kriterien schizoaffektiver Stoerungen - Erscheinungsbild schizoaffektiver Stoerungen - Schizoaffektive Stoerungen im Kindes- und Jugendalter - Schizoaffektive Stoerungen im Erwachsenenalter - Schizoaffektive Stoerungen im hoeheren Lebensalter - Abschliessende Bemerkungen Organisch bedingte Stoerungen (P. Fischer) - Einleitung - Begriffsbestimmungen - Hirnlasion + Kompensation = Funktion - Akute organisch bedingte psychiatrische Stoerungen - akute exogene Reaktionstypen - Chronische organische psychiatrische Stoerungen - chronische exogene Reaktionstypen Wahnerkrankungen (I. Oberhummer) - Klinisches Erscheinungsbild - Wahnsyndrome in bezug auf Alter und Lebensabschnitt - Therapiemoeglichkeiten Sexualentwicklung und Sexualpathologie der Lebensabschnitte (N. Kriechbaum) - Pranatale Phase - Geburt und Sauglingszeit - Kleinkinderzeit - Schulkind - Pubertat - Junge Erwachsene - Mittlere Erwachsene - Sexualitat im Klimakterium - Sexualitat im Alter - Schlussbemerkung Abhangigkeiten in unterschiedlichen Lebensphasen (H. Scholz) - Einleitung - Missbrauch und Abhangigkeit in der Kindheit - Abhangigkeiten im mittleren Lebensalter - Abhangigkeitsprozesse im hoeheren Lebensalter -

Neuroglia, the third edition, is the long-awaited revision of the most highly regarded reference volume on glial cells. This indispensable edition has been completely revised, greatly enlarged, and enhanced with four-color figures throughout, all in response to the tremendous amount of new information that has accumulated since the previous edition seven years ago. Glial cells are, without doubt, the new stars in the neuroscience and neurology communities. Neglected in research for years, it is now evident that the brain only functions in a concerted action of all the cells, namely glia and neurons. Seventy one chapters comprehensively discuss virtually every aspect of normal glial cell anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and function, and consider the central roles of these cells in neurological diseases including stroke, Alzheimer disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, neuropathy, and psychiatric conditions. More than 20 new chapters have been added to accommodate the unprecedented growth of knowledge about the basic biology of glia and the sophisticated manner in which they partner with neurons in the course of normal brain function. Lavishly illustrated and meticulously edited, the third edition remains the most convenient and maximally useful reference available. This new edition is an essential reference for both newcomers to the field as well as established investigators. Neuroglia belongs on every neuroscientist's bookshelf and will be a great asset for educators and neurological clinicians as well.

This far-reaching volume analyzes the social, cultural, political, and economic factors contributing to mental health issues and shaping treatment options in the Asian and Pacific world. Multiple lenses examine complex experiences and needs in this vast region, identifying not only cultural issues at the individual and collective levels, but also the impacts of colonial history, effects of war and disasters, and the current climate of globalization on mental illness and its care. These concerns are located in the larger context of physical health and its determinants, worldwide goals such as reducing global poverty, and the evolving mental health response to meet rising challenges affecting the diverse populations of the region. Chapters focus on countries in East, Southeast, and South Asia plus Oceania and Australia, describing: * National history of psychiatry and its acceptance. * Present-day mental health practice and services. * Mental/physical health impact of recent social change. * Disparities in accessibility, service delivery, and quality of care. * Collaborations with indigenous and community approaches to healing. * Current mental health resources, the state of policy, and areas for intervention. A welcome addition to the global health literature, Mental Health in Asia and the Pacific brings historical depth and present-day insight to practitioners providing services in this diverse area of the world as well as researchers and policymakers studying the region.

This book examines three decades of research on behavioral inhibition (BI), addressing its underlying biological, psychological, and social markers of development and functioning. It offers a theory-to-practice overview of behavioral inhibition and explores its cognitive component as well as its relationship to shyness, anxiety, and social withdrawal. The volume traces the emergence of BI during infancy through its occurrences across childhood. In addition, the book details the biological basis of BI and explores ways in which it is amenable to environmental modeling. Its chapters explore the neural systems underlying developmental milestones, address lingering questions (e.g., limitations of studying BI in laboratory settings and debatable benefits of self-regulatory processes), and provide recommendations for future research. Key areas of coverage include: Animal models of behavioral inhibition. Social functioning and peer relationships in BI. Attention mechanisms in behavioral inhibition. BI and associative learning of fear. Behavioral inhibition and prevention of internalizing distress in early childhood. The relations between BI, cognitive control, and anxiety. Behavioral Inhibition is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians, scientist-practitioners, and graduate students across such fields as developmental psychology, psychiatry, social work, cognitive and affective developmental neuroscience, child and school psychology, educational psychology, and pediatrics.

Expanding on the critical contributions of previous editions, this updated and comprehensive resource covers the latest diagnostic criteria of insomnia. The book is thematically divided into two parts. The first section consists of chapters on nomenclature, epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, complications and prognosis and treatment both pharmacological and behavioral. The second features chapters on insomnia in special populations, including ones on children and adolescents, cancer sufferers and survivors, in pregnancy, in menopausal women and in patients with neurological disorders and those with psychiatric illnesses. This third edition fills an important niche in the medical literature by addressing insomnia in its multiple forms, summarizes the findings published in different medical journals, and presents these to the practicing health care provider in an easily accessible format.

"When I sat down to read this book, I decided to fasten my seat-belt. There are people so desperate that they are willing to commit terrible crimes to get their message across, and there are carers so assaulted that they must put safety before care. Not a book to read before bedtime you might say. However I'm not sure that this is setting the scene correctly, because, when I read it, in addition to the psychopathology of desperation, there is the capacity to reflect on it, and to give despair the meaning it should have, and to do so with a greatly reassuring power."--From the Foreword by Bob Hinshelwood, Member of the British Psychoanalytic Society, Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Professor in the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK "[The book] may stand as an unusually bold and uncompromising example of psychodynamically informed action research and the contribution this can offer, drawing on the intelligence afforded by emotional experience, to the restoring of both meaning and agency. Viewed in this way, the book both speaks to and has a relevance for practitioners, managers and consultants well beyond the boundaries of just one signal enterprise."--From the Afterword by David Armstrong, Principal Consultant at the Tavistock Consultancy Service, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust

Western medicine, including psychiatry and psychology, has had a virtual monopoly of the health industry. This has led to economic incentives that literally keep people sick. Anthropologists, because of their holistic and comparative base, are in a unique position to apply their knowledge within clinical settings. Written for anthropologists, but useful to all clinicians, Rush's book offers a new model for understanding health and illness, provides a review of techniques found in many cultures for reducing individual and system stress, and offers processes for recovering health and individual and social balance. Rush establishes a model outlining the development of emotional problems and then offers the clinicial tools and techniques for helping individuals, families, and groups reduce stress and retranslate traumatic or distressing events. The reader will discover a very different view of emotional and physical stress; the approach taken is informational and anthropological in nature. From this approach arise numerous techniques designed to help clients achieve stress reduction and enhanced healing.

Depression in men often goes undiagnosed or improperly treated because of unique qualities that make it different from depression in women. In this volume, Dr. Kantor explains that depression in men is not strictly the product of major life events; it also regularly appears in response to minor troubling issues that often go entirely overlooked by others or, if recognized at all, are downplayed. In this jargon-free text, Kantor explains how many men are able to navigate the big stresses successfully only to succumb to the little ones. And he challenges the current widespread tendency now viewing depression in men as a strictly biological event to be treated first and foremost with pharmaceuticals. Psychiatrist Martin Kantor takes us into his treatment rooms and daily experience to show the signs and causes of depression in men, and how they do not display the disorder most often in the way we typically associate with depression. Many men who feel depressed deny it by shifting into hypomania. Trying to hide, reject or downplay the feeling, they may become excessively elated, have a decreased need for sleep, find their thoughts racing and their sexual desire fueled out of control. Where there was, initially with depression, a withdrawal and a desire to weep, then enters attention-seeking behavior, clowning and flighty energy, explains Kantor. That makes the depression far more difficult for laypeople and professionals-even for the men themselves-to recognize and deal with. That is unfortunate because a small amount of medical attention and personal affection can work wonders, rechanneling the man into a life of happiness he might never have known, and a level of achievement he might never othewise have attained, says Kantor Long thought to be a feminine disorder connected to hormones and the premenstrual syndrome, depression actually strikes millions of men each year. With absorbing vignettes, and insights into a faulty culture that urges men to always have a stiff upper lip and shun medical attention, Dr. Kantor shows the unique ways in which depression is very much a men's disorder. And he helps us understand what we can do to treat it, to help ourselves and the men we care about recover.

This book offers a unique examination of how violence is situationally induced and reproduced for those inmates living with HIV in a US State prison system. Imprisonment is the only space where Americans have a constitutional right to healthcare but findings from this research suggest that accessing this care and associated welfare benefits requires some degree of violence. This book documents how HIV-positive inmates went about achieving agency through harm to their bodies and social standing to improve their health and wellbeing, in prison and upon re-entry to the community. It focusses on ethnographic research which was carried out in seven penal facilities in New England and comprises of accounts from inmates, prison staff, healthcare providers, ex-offenders, and community social workers. This book speaks to academics interested in prisons, violence, health, and ethnographic research, and to policy makers.

Full of courage and strength, this remarkable memoir follows the life of Randy Hartman from his upbringing in an abusive, dysfunctional family to a successful military and mental health career.

Born in the rural town of Guernsey, Wyoming, during the 1950s, Randy grew up with three brothers and a hardworking mother and father. He enjoyed running around the small community and getting into innocent trouble with his brothers and friends, but things were difficult at home. His mother died in 1961 and suddenly, Randy's abusive, alcoholic father was trying to raise the family with little success, moving the boys around constantly and consorting with different women.

Once he was old enough, Randy escaped his miserable home life and joined the military, got married, and started a family. But numerous problems continued to plague him, including his own bout with alcoholism, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and infidelity. When he and his wife were divorced, Randy hit bottom. Yet he refused to give in to despair, and went on to overcome his addictions, eventually going to college and earning a master's degree and a PhD.

A true story of anger, shame, happiness, and hope, "Raising Randy" delivers a compelling picture of one man's struggle to overcome the past and create a meaningful future.

International Review of Research in Mental Retardation is an ongoing scholarly look at research into the causes, effects, classification systems, syndromes, etc. of mental retardation. Contributors come from wide-ranging perspectives, including genetics, psychology, education, and other health and behavioral sciences. Volume 37 of the series focuses mainly on topics relating to parenting and families, including chapters on biomarkers in the study of families of individuals with developmental disabilities, contrasts in parenting across early school age children with developmental delays, parental contributions to communication development, and siblings of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

* Provides the most recent scholarly research in the study of mental retardation * A vast range of perspectives is offered, and many topics are covered * An excellent resource for academic researchers

Introduction: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding the Neurodevelopment of Schizophrenia; J.M. Hollister, et al. The Developing Brain: Fetal Development and Schizophrenia: Historical Observations from Teratology; W.O. McClure. Pathology of the Brain of Schizophrenics: Implications for Neurodevelopment: Neuroimaging Studies: Structural Brain Abnormalities in Schizophrenia: Distribution, Etiology, and Implications; L.T. Eyler-Zorilla, T.D. Cannon. Animal Models: Fetal Developmental Animal Model of Schizophrenia with Dopamine, Acetylcholine, and Nitric Oxide Perspective; M. Lyon, W.O. McClure. Premorbid Signs and Clinical Characteristics of Schizophrenia: Childhood Risk Factors for Adult Schizophrenia in a General Population Cohort at Age 43 Years; P. Jones, et al. Fetal Neurodevelopmental Disterbance: Sources and Consequences: Fetal Viral Infections: Fetal Viral Infection and Adult Schizophrenia: Empirical Findings and Interpretations; R.A. Machon, et al. Antibody Exposure: Disruption of Fetal Brain Development by Maternal Antibodies as an Etiological Factor in Schizophrenia; P. Laing, et al. 5 additional articles. Index.

Celebrating Fifty Years of Picador Books If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self - himself - he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it. In this extraordinary book, Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent tics or shout involuntary obscenities, and yet are gifted with unusually acute artistic or mathematical talents. If sometimes beyond our surface comprehension, these brilliant tales illuminate what it means to be human. A provocative exploration of the mysteries of the human mind, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a million-copy bestseller by the twentieth century's greatest neurologist. Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

This text outlines the importance of biopsychosocial factors in improving medical care, and illustrates evidence-based, state-of-the-art interventions for patients with a variety of medical conditions. Each chapter is focused on a particular health concern or illness, which is described both in terms of prevalence and frequent psychological and psychiatric comorbidities that may present to clinicians working with these populations. Consistent with evidence-based care, information on the efficacy of the treatments being described is presented to support their continued use. To accommodate the needs of clinicians, we describe population specific approaches to treatment, including goal settings, modules and skills as well as strategies to assess and monitor progress. To facilitate learning, each chapter contains one or more case examples that explicate the skills described to convey change within a behavioral medicine protocol. Each chapter also includes resources in the form of books and websites to gain additional knowledge and detail as needed. Authors are experts in the field of each chapter, ensuring that information presented is recent and of high quality.

This book provides a new perspective on the association between religious beliefs and mental health. The book is divided into five parts, the first of which traces the development of theories of organic evolution in the cultural and religious context before Charles Darwin. Part II describes the major evolutionary theories that Darwin proposed in his three books on evolution, and the religious, sociological, and scientific reactions to his theories. Part III introduces the reader to the concept of evolutionary psychiatry. It discusses how different regions of the brain evolved over time, and explains that certain brain regions evolved to protect us from danger by assessing threats of harm in the environment, including other humans. Specifically, this part describes: how psychiatric symptoms that are commonly experienced by normal individuals during their everyday lives are the product of brain mechanisms that evolved to protect us from harm; the prevalence rate of psychiatric symptoms in the U.S. general population; how religious and other beliefs influence the brain mechanisms that underlie psychiatric symptoms; and the brain regions that are involved in different psychiatric disorders. Part IV presents the findings of U.S. studies demonstrating that positive beliefs about God and life-after-death, and belief in meaning-in-life and divine forgiveness have salutary associations with mental health, whereas negative beliefs about God and life-after-death, belief in the Devil and human evil, and doubts about one's religious beliefs have pernicious associations with mental health. The last part of the book summarizes each section and recommends research on the brain mechanism underlying psychiatric symptoms, and the relationships among these brain mechanisms, religious beliefs, and mental health in the context of ETAS Theory.