Psychology Mental Illness

In Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In Upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night. These disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the 21st century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and—more crucially—to treat them.

The statistics on suicide are staggering. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 800,000 people die by suicide every year, which is one person every forty seconds, and for each completed suicide there may be twenty or more attempts. In How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me, Susan Blauner is the perfect emissary for a message of hope and a program of action for these millions of people.

Over the last decade, scientists have discovered the importance and widespread presence in the body of a remarkable family of proteins known as prion proteins. Research links various types of prion proteins to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's—and this has fueled the search for new drugs that could halt the progression of these terrible disorders. Other discoveries have revealed the essential roles prion proteins play in memory and immunity, and the part they may have played in the beginnings of life on our planet.

Poor sleep is one of the most common health problems and can leave you feeling exhausted, stressed and run-down. While prescribed medications and over-the-counter remedies rarely offer lasting benefits, cognitive behavioural therapy can help enormously and is the treatment of choice for insomnia.

In his early 20s, Mindy Greiling's son, Jim, was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder after experiencing delusions that demanded he kill his mother. At the time, and for more than a decade after, Greiling was a Minnesota state legislator who struggled, along with her husband, to navigate and improve the state's inadequate mental health system. Fix What You Can is an illuminating and frank account of caring for a person with a mental illness, told by a parent and advocate.

Drawing on her 25-plus years of experience in the assessment and treatment of common sleep problems in children, Dr. Jodi A. Mindell provides tips and techniques, the answers to commonly asked questions, and case studies and quotes from parents who have successfully solved their children's sleep problems. Unlike other books on the subject, Dr. Mindell also offers practical tips on bedtime, rather than middle-of-the-night-sleep training, and shows how all members of the family can cope with the stresses associated with teaching a child to sleep.

When neuroscientist Susan Barry was 50 years old, she took an unforgettable trip to Manhattan. As she emerged from the dim light of the subway into the sunshine, she saw a view of the city that she had witnessed many times in the past but now saw in an astonishingly new way. Skyscrapers on street corners appeared to loom out toward her like the bows of giant ships. Tree branches projected upward and outward, enclosing and commanding palpable volumes of space.

Break the cycle of anxious thinking and rumination that are at the root of insomnia. In this much-needed guide, a trained mindfulness expert teams up with a behavioral sleep specialist to present evidence-based meditations in an innovative four-week protocol clinically demonstrated to address the emotional stresses and anxieties that lie at the root of sleep issues. Following this guide, listeners will learn to unwind their mind, relax their body, feel less tense, and finally get the sleep they need.

Your heart is racing, your mind is spinning, and you’re barely holding it together until you either snap or shut down completely. The world is too loud, too fast, too much… and all anyone says is “just calm down.” Feeling Constantly Overwhelmed? Trapped in Anxiety, Chronic Stress, or Emotional Chaos? What if the reason you struggle to relax isn’t about trying harder—but about how your nervous system is wired?

From New York Times best-selling author and blogger Heather B. Armstrong comes an honest and irreverent memoir - reminiscent of the New York Times best-seller Brain on Fire - about her experience as one of only a few people to participate in an experimental treatment for depression involving 10 rounds of a chemically induced coma approximating brain death.

Self Comes to Mind is a nuanced and original chronicle of the evolution of the human brain. It reveals how the brain's development of a self becomes a challenge to nature's indifference and opens the way for the appearance of culture, a radical break in the course of evolution.

In this compassionate and empowering book, noted psychologists Gordon J. G. Asmundson and Steven Taylor provide simple and accurate self-tests designed to help you understand health anxiety and the role it might be playing in how you feel. Concrete examples and helpful exercises show you how to change thought and behavior patterns that contribute to the aches, pains, and anxiety you're experiencing. The authors also explain how to involve friends and family - and when to seek professional help - as you learn to stay well without worry.

Boldly claiming a space in which people with disabilities can be seen and heard as they are-not as others perceive them - About Us captures the voices of a community that has for too long been stereotyped and misrepresented. Speaking not only to those with disabilities, but also to their families, coworkers, and support networks, the authors in About Us offer intimate stories of how they navigate a world not built for them.

Many people claim they would rather be diagnosed with cancer than dementia or Alzheimer's. What they may not realize is that decreased or impaired brain function is not a foregone conclusion as we get older. Our own lifestyle choices and habits can have a significant impact - for good or ill - on our brains. And that means there's hope. Drawing from the latest medical research, Dr. Richard Furman helps listeners understand brain health and shows them how to make three powerful lifestyle changes that can help decrease the probability of developing dementia or Alzheimer's.

For more than 20 years, The Baby Book author William Sears' advice has been trusted by millions across the country, and around the world. Now, he and The Anti-Alzheimer's Prescription author Vincent M. Fortanasce have put together the essential guide to a clearer, calmer, and happier brain. Laced with relatable personal stories from family members and patients, The Healthy Brain Book weds Fortanasce's deep neurological and psychiatric expertise with Sears' sympathetic bedside manner and listener-friendly writing.

CBT is a treatment modality that is used to help individuals change their maladaptive thinking patterns. The premise of this technique is that when a person changes his maladaptive thinking patterns that it leads to changes in emotion and behavior as well. This process requires a significant amount of self-awareness because participants not only work to adjust their mindsets but they have to make extensive changes in their behavioral patterns, as well.

In Beyond Madness—part memoir, part history, and part empathetic guide—Dr. Pruchno draws on her decades as a mental health professional, her own family's experiences with mental illness, and extensive interviews with people with serious mental illness to discuss how individuals live with these illnesses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression.

Everyone's familiar with the consequences of lost sleep: you're groggy and irritable, your focus is off, you don't perform at your best, and you're likely to dump sugary foods and caffeine into your system for an energy boost. But the effects of poor sleep go way beyond these concerns. Indeed, they can be life-threatening.

Individuals suffering from psychiatric or substance use disorders sometimes display any one of a number of frightening behaviors: verbal outbursts, physical threats and even violence. In this comprehensive guidebook, Ellis Amdur walks professionals working in healthcare and social services settings through a multitude of steps they can take to keep themselves, their colleagues, and their clientele safe. The focus of this book is behavior not diagnosis. The first sections of the book discuss specific behaviors ranging from such relatively minor irritants as reluctance to complete tasks and ...

The cultural and medical history of dementia and Alzheimer's disease by a leading psychiatrist and bioethicist who urges us to turn our focus from cure to care.