The conversation around mental health issues has greatly expanded in recent years, making it easier to find resources and support. We hope these titles will be of help.
The Hilarious World of Depression
John Moe
For years John Moe, critically-acclaimed public radio personality and host of The Hilarious World of Depression podcast, struggled with depression; it plagued his family and claimed the life of his brother in 2007. As Moe came to terms with his own illness, he began to see similar patterns of behavior and coping mechanisms surfacing in conversations with others, including high-profile comedians who’d struggled with the disease. Moe saw that there was tremendous comfort and community in open dialogue about these shared experiences and that humor had a unique power. Thus was born the podcast The Hilarious World of Depression. Inspired by the immediate success of the podcast, Moe has written a remarkable investigation of the disease, part memoir of his own journey, part treasure trove of laugh-out-loud stories and insights drawn from years of interviews with some of the most brilliant minds facing similar challenges. Throughout the course of this powerful narrative, depression’s universal themes come to light, among them, struggles with identity, lack of understanding of the symptoms, the challenges of work-life, self-medicating, the fallout of the disease in the lives of our loved ones, the tragedy of suicide, and the hereditary aspects of the disease. The Hilarious World of Depression illuminates depression in an entirely fresh and inspiring way.
Read More View in CatalogBipolar Disorder
Francis Mark Mondimore
With insight and sensitivity, Dr. Mondimore makes complex medical concepts easy to understand and describes what it is like for people to live with bipolar disorder. He recommends changes to daily routines and lifestyle that will improve the quality of life for patients and offers expert advice on planning for emergencies and identifying when and how to seek help. Throughout the book, Dr. Mondimore focuses on the importance of building a support system for everyone affected by this unpredictable illness.
Read More View in CatalogHelping Others with Depression
Susan J. Noonan
The book is meant for those who want to help a loved one with depression. The book details what depression is and what its main symptoms and manifestations are, followed by proven strategies for encouraging someone to get treatment and suggestions for how to tell when depressive symptoms are getting worse and may indicate a risk for suicide.
Read More View in CatalogEmotional First Aid
Guy Winch, Ph.D.
Emotional First Aid is essential reading for anyone looking to become more resilient, build self-esteem, and let go of the hurts and hang-ups that are holding them back. We all sustain emotional wounds. Failure, guilt, rejection, and loss are as much a part of life as the occasional scraped elbow. But while we typically bandage a cut or ice a sprained ankle, our first aid kit for emotional injuries is not just understocked—it’s nonexistent. Fortunately, there is such a thing as mental first aid for battered emotions. Drawing on the latest scientific research and using real-life examples, practicing psychologist Guy Winch, Ph.D. offers specific step-by-step treatments that are fast, simple, and effective.
Read More View in CatalogBack from the Brink
Graeme Cowan
On July 24th, 2004, author Graeme Cowan took pen to paper and said goodbye to his family. “I just can’t be a burden any longer,” he wrote. After four failed suicide attempts, and a five-year episode of depression that his psychiatrist described as the worst he had ever treated, Cowan set out on a difficult journey back from the brink. Since then, he has dedicated his life to helping others struggling with depression and bipolar disorder—and that is how this book came to be. If you have severe depression or bipolar disorder, it is important to remember that you are not alone. Featuring interviews with people from of all walks of life, Back from the Brink is filled with real stories of hope and healing, information about treatment options and medication, and tools for putting what you've learned into practice. If you are ready to put one foot in front of the other and finally set out on the path to recovery, the powerful stories in this book will inform and inspire you to make lasting change. If you have severe depression or bipolar disorder, you may find it difficult to take that first step toward recovery. You aren’t alone. In our society, many people with depression or bipolar disorder do not seek therapy or medical treatment due to the stigma that surrounds mental illness. Even people in “progressive” communities may not want to admit that they are on antidepressants or mood-balancing medications. Isn’t it time we changed the way we thought about these illnesses? The book includes a special foreword by actress Glenn Close, and features in-depth interviews with former US Representative Patrick Kennedy; television talk-show host Trisha Goddard; director of public policy at Google, Bob Boorstin; former chief advisor to Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell; former tennis pro, Cliff Richey; former professional football player, Greg Montgomery; and many more.
Read More View in CatalogA Common Struggle
Patrick J. Kennedy, Stephen Fried
On May 5, 2006, the New York Times ran two stories, “Patrick Kennedy Crashes Car into Capitol Barrier” and then, several hours later, “Patrick Kennedy Says He'll Seek Help for Addiction.” It was the first time that the popular Rhode Island congressman had publicly disclosed his addiction to prescription painkillers, the true extent of his struggle with bipolar disorder and his plan to immediately seek treatment. That could have been the end of his career, but instead it was the beginning. Since then, Kennedy has become the nation’s leading advocate for mental health and substance abuse care, research and policy both in and out of Congress. And ever since passing the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act—and after the death of his father, leaving Congress—he has been changing the dialogue that surrounds all brain diseases. A Common Struggle weaves together Kennedy's private and professional narratives, echoing Kennedy's philosophy that for him, the personal is political and the political personal. Focusing on the years from his 'coming out' about suffering from bipolar disorder and addiction to the present day, the book examines Kennedy's journey toward recovery and reflects on Americans' propensity to treat mental illnesses as "family secrets." Beyond his own story, though, Kennedy creates a roadmap for equality in the mental health community, and outlines a bold plan for the future of mental health policy. Written with award-winning healthcare journalist and best-selling author Stephen Fried, A Common Struggle is both a cry for empathy and a call to action.
Read More View in CatalogBattlefield of the Mind
Joyce Meyer
If you suffer from negative thoughts, take heart! Joyce Meyer has helped millions win these battles-and she can help you, too. In her most popular bestseller ever, now with its companion study guide in this two-in-one edition, the beloved author and teacher shows you how to change your life by changing your mind. You'll learn to deal with the thousands of thoughts you have every day and focus your mind to think the way God thinks. Joyce she shares the trials, tragedies, and victories from her own life that led her to wondrous, life-transforming truth, as well as thought-provoking questions, powerful scripture, and engaging exercises that will help you overcome whatever challenges you face.
Read More View in CatalogHow to Change Your Mind
Michael Pollan
A brilliant and brave investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs--and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research. A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan's "mental travelogue" is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.
Read More View in Catalog(Don’t) Call Me Crazy
Kelly Jensen
Who’s Crazy? What does it mean to be crazy? Is using the word crazy offensive? What happens when a label like that gets attached to your everyday experiences? To understand mental health, we need to talk openly about it. Because there’s no single definition of crazy, there’s no single experience that embodies it, and the word itself means different things—wild? extreme? disturbed? passionate?—to different people. In (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, thirty-three actors, athletes, writers, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore a wide range of topics: their personal experiences with mental illness, how we do and don’t talk about mental health, help for better understanding how every person’s brain is wired differently, and what, exactly, might make someone crazy. If you’ve ever struggled with your mental health, or know someone who has, come on in, turn the pages . . . and let’s get talking.
Read More View in CatalogAre u ok?
Kati Morton
Get answers to your most common questions about mental health and mental illness -- including anxiety, depression, bipolar and eating disorders, and more. Are u ok? walks readers through the most common questions about mental health and the process of getting help -- from finding the best therapist to navigating harmful and toxic relationships and everything in between. In the same down-to-earth, friendly tone that makes her videos so popular, licensed marriage and family therapist and YouTube sensation Kati Morton clarifies and destigmatizes the struggles so many of us go through and encourages readers to reach out for help.
Read More View in CatalogFreedom from Family Dysfunction
Kenneth Perlmutter
Now, more than ever, families struggle to live with, care for, and protect their family members suffering with addiction or mental illness. Kenneth Perlmutter, a California psychologist with 30-plus years in the field, has written Freedom from Family Dysfunction specifically for family members who love someone battling addiction or mental illness who want to break the cycles of codependency and relapse plaguing their dysfunctional systems. The combination of compelling vignettes, lively dialogues, and step-by-step instructions makes this guidebook an indispensable tool for the parents, partners, adult children, and the clinicians who treat them, to heal the powerlessness, pain, and impossibility of life with someone they’ve been trying to help, sometimes for decades. Perlmutter takes a systemic and inter-generational view, combining current knowledge with his deep personal experience of addiction and family dysfunction to guide readers toward understanding their systems, their positions in them, and the forces that keep things stuck. “Stress-Induced Impaired Coping (SIIC)” is the term he’s coined to describe his ground-breaking model of family system pathology and recovery. He invites families to see themselves not as dysfunctional, but as wounded, as they work toward connection, closeness, and the restoration of systemic mental wellness and sustainability. Best of all, the method works regardless of whether the one identified as “the problem” makes changes or not.
Read More View in CatalogThe Collected Schizophrenias
Esmé Weijun Wang
Powerful, affecting essays on mental illness, winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize and a Whiting Award An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” but to those who wish to understand it as well. Opening with the journey toward her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, Wang discusses the medical community’s own disagreement about labels and procedures for diagnosing those with mental illness, and then follows an arc that examines the manifestations of schizophrenia in her life. In essays that range from using fashion to present as high-functioning to the depths of a rare form of psychosis, and from the failures of the higher education system and the dangers of institutionalization to the complexity of compounding factors such as PTSD and Lyme disease, Wang’s analytical eye, honed as a former lab researcher at Stanford, allows her to balance research with personal narrative. An essay collection of undeniable power, The Collected Schizophrenias dispels misconceptions and provides insight into a condition long misunderstood.
Read More View in CatalogThe End of Mental Illness
Daniel G. Amen
New hope for those suffering from conditions like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, addictions, PTSD, ADHD and more. Though incidence of these conditions is skyrocketing, for the past four decades standard treatment hasn't much changed, and success rates in treating them have barely improved, either. Meanwhile, the stigma of the "mental illness" label--damaging and devastating on its own--can often prevent sufferers from getting the help they need. Brain specialist and bestselling author Dr. Daniel Amen is on the forefront of a new movement within medicine and related disciplines that aims to change all that. In The End of Mental Illness, Dr. Amen draws on the latest findings of neuroscience to challenge an outdated psychiatric paradigm and help readers take control and improve the health of their own brain, minimizing or reversing conditions that may be preventing them from living a full and emotionally healthy life.
Read More View in CatalogBrain Wash
David Perlmutter, Austin Perlmutter
Contemporary life provides us with infinite opportunities, along with endless temptations. We can eat whatever we want, whenever we want. We can immerse ourselves in the vast, enticing world of digital media. We can buy goods and services for rapid delivery with our fingertips or voice commands. But living in this 24/7 hyper-reality poses serious risks to our physical and mental states, our connections to others, and even to the world at large. Brain Wash builds from a simple premise: Our brains are being gravely manipulated, resulting in behaviors that leave us more lonely, anxious, depressed, distrustful, illness-prone, and overweight than ever before. Based on the latest science, the book identifies the mental hijacking that undermines each and every one of us, and presents the tools necessary to think more clearly, make better decisions, strengthen bonds with others, and develop healthier habits. Featuring a 10-day bootcamp program, including a meal plan and 40 delicious original recipes, Brain Wash is the key to cultivating a more purposeful and fulfilling life.
Read More View in CatalogBuilding a Life Worth Living
Marsha M. Linehan
Marsha Linehan tells the story of her journey from suicidal teenager to world-renowned developer of the life-saving behavioral therapy DBT, using her own struggle to develop life skills for others. “This book is a victory on both sides of the page.”—Gloria Steinem “Are you one of us?” a patient once asked Marsha Linehan, the world-renowned psychologist who developed Dialectical Behavior Therapy. “Because if you were, it would give all of us so much hope.” Over the years, DBT had saved the lives of countless people fighting depression and suicidal thoughts, but Linehan had never revealed that her pioneering work was inspired by her own desperate struggles as a young woman. Only when she received this question did she finally decide to tell her story. In this remarkable and inspiring memoir, Linehan describes how, when she was eighteen years old, she began an abrupt downward spiral from popular teenager to suicidal young woman. After several miserable years in a psychiatric institute, Linehan made a vow that if she could get out of emotional hell, she would try to find a way to help others get out of hell too, and to build a life worth living. She went on to put herself through night school and college, living at a YWCA and often scraping together spare change to buy food. She went on to get her PhD in psychology, specializing in behavior therapy. In the 1980s, she achieved a breakthrough when she developed Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, a therapeutic approach that combines acceptance of the self and ways to change. Linehan included mindfulness as a key component in therapy treatment, along with original and specific life-skill techniques. She says, "You can't think yourself into new ways of acting; you can only act yourself into new ways of thinking." Throughout her extraordinary scientific career, Marsha Linehan remained a woman of deep spirituality. Her powerful and moving story is one of faith and perseverance. Linehan shows, in Building a Life Worth Living, how the principles of DBT really work—and how, using her life skills and techniques, people can build lives worth living.
Read More View in CatalogSeeking Serenity
Amanda Enayati
In a provocative and practical look at modern stress, Seeking Serenity offers an empowering new message: Stress can serve as a guide to living our happiest and healthiest lives. In Seeking Serenity, stress columnist Amanda Enayati challenges our long-held assumptions about stress, painting a groundbreaking picture that separates myth from reality when it comes to what is commonly referred to as the plague of modern life. Weaving together stories, research from science, history, philosophy and diverse faiths, and everyday exercises, she crafts a fascinating tale that begins with the behind-the-scenes machinations of corporate villains and ends in the power of our stories to shape our realities. We are living in an era of dramatic highs and lows, with lives that move at a pace and intensity impossible at any other time in history. These contradictions throw us off-kilter, out of harmony and balance, creating what we perceive as never-ending and destructive cycles of stress. But life itself has always been—and will always be—a series of fluctuations: the good days, the bad days, the excruciating days. The key to mastering stress lies in the way we experience it. Seeking Serenity presents ten revolutionary principles developed from the emerging science of stress and reinforced by literature, philosophy and age-old spiritual wisdom that help us to differentiate between destructive and constructive stress, and to master stress in the everyday by learning how to: Shift our perceptions to interpret inevitable challenges in a way that serves us better; Embrace a narrative that casts stress as a pathway to adaptation and growth; and Commit to breaks, buffers, and protective practices that will minimize and neutralize the adverse impacts of toxic stress. Drawing on extensive research and remarkable case studies, Seeking Serenity presents a clear and accessible action plan to achieving more joyful and productive lives, stronger communities and a better world.
Read More View in CatalogThe Stressed Years of Their Lives
Dr. B. Janet Hibbs, Dr. Anthony Rostain
All parenting is in preparation for letting go. However, the paradox of parenting is that the more we learn about late adolescent development and risk, the more frightened we become for our children, and the more we want to stay involved in their lives. This becomes particularly necessary, and also particularly challenging, in mid- to late adolescence, the years just before and after students head off to college. These years coincide with the emergence of many mood disorders and other mental health issues. When family psychologist Dr. B. Janet Hibbs's own son came home from college mired in a dangerous depressive spiral, she turned to Dr. Anthony Rostain. Dr. Rostain has a secret superpower: he understands the arcane rules governing privacy and parental involvement in students’ mental health care on college campuses, the same rules that sometimes hold parents back from getting good care for their kids. Now, these two doctors have combined their expertise to corral the crucial emotional skills and lessons that every parent and student can learn for a successful launch from home to college.
Read More View in CatalogParenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety
John Duffy
Learn about the “New Teen” and how to adjust your parenting approach. Kids are growing up with nearly unlimited access to social media and the internet, and unprecedented academic, social, and familial stressors. Starting as early as eight years old, children are exposed to information, thought, and emotion that they are developmentally unprepared to process. As a result, saving the typical “teen parenting” strategies for thirteen-year-olds is now years too late. Urgent advice for parents of teens. Dr. John Duffy’s parenting book is a new and necessary guide that addresses this hidden phenomenon of the changing teenage brain. Dr. Duffy, a nationally recognized expert in parenting for nearly twenty-five years, offers this book as a guide for parents raising children who are growing up quickly and dealing with unresolved adolescent issues that can lead to anxiety and depression. Unprecedented psychological suffering among our young and why it is occurring. A shift has taken place in how and when children develop. Because of the exposure they face, kids are emotionally overwhelmed at a young age, often continuing to search for a sense of self well into their twenties. Paradoxically, Dr. Duffy recognizes the good that comes with these challenges, such as the sense of justice instilled in teenagers starting at a young age. Readers of this book will: Sort through the overwhelming circumstances of today’s teens and better understand the changing landscape of adolescence Come away with a revised, conscious parenting plan more suited to addressing the current needs of the New Teen Discover the joy in parenting again by reclaiming the role of your teen’s ally, guide, and consultant If you enjoyed parenting books such as The Yes Brain, How to Raise an Adult, The Deepest Well, and The Conscious Parent; then Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety should be next on your list!
Read More View in CatalogHow Not to Fall Apart
Maggy van Eijk
What no one tells you about living with anxiety and depression—learned the hard way Maggy van Eijk knows the best place to cry in public. She also knows that eating super salty licorice or swimming in icy cold water are things that make you feel alive but, unlike self-harm, aren't bad for you. These are the things to remember when you're sad. Turning 27, Maggy had the worst mental health experience of her life so far. She ended a three-year relationship. She lost friends and made bad decisions. She drank too much and went to ER over twelve times. She saw three different therapists and had three different diagnoses. She went to two burn units for self-inflicted wounds and was escorted in an ambulance to a mental health crisis center. But that's not the end of her story. Punctuated with illustrated lists reminiscent of Maggy's popular BuzzFeed posts, How Not to Fall Apart shares the author's hard-won lessons about what helps and what hurts on the road to self-awareness and better mental health. This is a book about what it's like to live with anxiety and depression, panic attacks, self-harm and self-loathing--and it's also a hopeful roadmap written by someone who's been there and is still finding her way.
Read More View in CatalogHow to Stop Feeling So Damn Depressed
Jonas A. Horwitz
In this no-nonsense guide for men, psychologist Jonas Horwitz presents straightforward, jargon-free strategies to help you identify and overcome depression, once and for all. The damned thing about severe depression is that it takes over your brain, body, and spirit. It wants you to say to yourself, "There is nothing I can do to make myself feel better. I am helpless in the face of my problems." Even at this very moment your severe depression is whispering in your ear, "This is all bulls@#t." Your depression has lived with you for a long time, and has seldom left your side. It's relentlessly pessimistic, and wants you to believe that your misery will never end. These are the lies your depression is wanting you believe. With this unique guide, you'll learn why it's so important to take your severe depression seriously—just as you would if you had cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or any other life-threatening illness. In addition, by viewing your depression as a separate entity—The Beast—you'll discover how it tries to trick you when you are most stressed to do things that leave you feeling much more depressed. You'll also learn how changing your behavior can actually change your brain chemistry. And, most importantly, you'll find actionable solutions to put The Beast in its place so you can start feeling better now! In order to overcome your depression, you must understand its nature. This book will help you understand The Beast, stop feeding it, and take back your life.
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