Straight Talk about Your Mental Health or Islamic Medicine

Straight Talk about Your Mental Health

Author: James R Morrison

Too often, mental health care is postponed due to fears about what treatment might entail. Now Dr. James Morrison, a highly experienced practitioner with a no-nonsense approach, provides up-to-date facts and reliable advice about what might be wrong and what you can do about it. Explaining what really works for a wide range of psychological difficulties, Dr. Morrison gives frank and empathetic answers to all the common questions, plus many you may not even think of asking:

*Why do I have these symptoms and when will they get better?
*How safe _are_ drugs like Prozac--and what about herbal remedies?
*What will I have to go through to find out what's wrong?
*How will I know if I've found a good therapist?
* How can I get the best care when my insurance and finances are limited?
*What can I expect in the months and years ahead?

Whether you feel trapped by depression or driven by anxiety, whether you're worried about an aging parent's memory loss or a spouse's mood swings, Straight Talk gives you the knowledge you need now and anticipates what you'll need in the future. It helps you make well-informed choices about this critical aspect of health and well-being--for yourself and those you love.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: Diana Marta, BSN, RN (Rush University Medical Center)
Description: This is an excellent guide to psychiatric disorders designed to assist the patient, family, and support people in making good decisions about treatment.
Purpose: The objective is to inform people about mental illness and encourage them to get the help they need and to make educated decisions. Attempting to advocate for the patient by helping him make good treatment decisions is definitely a worthwhile goal and the author has accomplished this successfully.
Audience: This reference is aimed at the lay person or for a professional to recommend to a patient, which would be appropriate for almost any mental illness. It gives basic information in a thoroughly readable, not academic, style. The author has treated over 15,000 patients, teaches at the university level, and has authored several books for professionals. It is clear that he hasn't lost touch with the needs of his patients.
Features: The book describes disorders, medications, and therapies, as well as anticipating and addressing the many questions and fears that patients often have in the course of treatment. The vignettes are short and effective. The author answers the questions many people are afraid to ask, and explains things clearly without being patronizing. This book was written to empower the patient and family in getting the best mental healthcare. My only regret that it won't be read by all patients.
Assessment: This is an easy-to-read and very thorough reference for virtually any question a person might have about mental illness and its treatment. It answers many questions that patients often have before they seek treatment and, in many cases, may mean the difference between a person getting the help they need or not. Its tone isn't "ivory tower" but rather the sort of advice you'd hope to get from a caring friend. The author is clearly a patient advocate in the best sense of the word.

Library Journal

Morrison (clinical psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science Univ.; DSM-IV Made Easy) adds to his growing list of works this effective lay readers' guide to treating mental illness. As the author reveals, many people put off getting help for fear of what their treatment may involve, the cost of treatment, of being stigmatized, and the side effects of medication. Morrison provides authoritative answers to those and many other concerns typically raised by individuals and their families, organizing the material into sections on seeking help, mental disorders, and, most important, treatment options. Morrison explains which treatments work best for which illnesses, detailing numerous drugs, including the new generation of antipsychotics. Although written for consumers, this book will also well serve professionals and students and nicely complements Daniel G. Amen's Healing the Hardware of the Soul. Highly recommended for all public libraries.-Dale Farris, Groves, TX

Booknews

Explaining what really works for a range of psychological difficulties, this guide for general readers tells how to seek help for mental problems and how clinicians determine what is wrong, explains how treatments work and which problems they address, and describes the symptoms and course of various mental health diagnoses and the treatments that are most likely to work. There is much information on drug side effects, interactions, and prices. Morrison is a psychiatrist and educator who has written several books for professionals. He teaches clinical psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Rating

4 Stars! from Doody

Table of Contents:

	Introduction	1
Pt. 1	Seeking Help	7
Ch. 1	Taking Charge of Your Care: What Mental Health Clinicians Do	11
Ch. 2	Will Treatment Help Me?	21
Ch. 3	Where Can I Go for Help?	27
Ch. 4	What Is My Role in Treatment?	36
Pt. 2	Treatment Options	45
Ch. 5	Introduction to Psychiatric Drugs	47
Ch. 6	Antidepressants	63
Ch. 7	Mood Stabilizers	85
Ch. 8	Drugs to Treat Anxiety and Insomnia	96
Ch. 9	Antipsychotic Medications	112
Ch. 10	Drugs for Dementia	129
Ch. 11	Medications to Treat Substance Abuse	137
Ch. 12	Nondrug Physical Treatments	148
Ch. 13	Psychotherapy	158
Ch. 14	Behavior Modification	178
Pt. 3	Mental Disorders	189
Ch. 15	Depression	191
Ch. 16	Mania and Mood Swings	214
Ch. 17	Anxiety and Panic	224
Ch. 18	Phobias	236
Ch. 19	Posttraumatic Stress Disorder	246
Ch. 20	Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder	251
Ch. 21	Somatization Disorder	257
Ch. 22	Psychosis and Schizophrenia	264
Ch. 23	Alzheimer's and Other Dementias	276
Ch. 24	Eating and Sleeping Disorders	287
Ch. 25	Substance Abuse	299
	App. A: Resources	319
App. B	Medication Generic and Trade Names	327
	Index	337
	About the Author	344

Interesting textbook: From Earth to Herbalist or Practical Miracles for Mars and Venus

Islamic Medicine

Author: Manfred Ullmann

This highly readable survey describes the development of Islamic medicine and its influence on Western medical thought. It explains the main features of Islamic medicine: its system of human physiology; its ideas about the nature of disease; its rules for diet and the use of drugs; and its relationship with astrology and the occult.