Best mental health books according to redditors
We found 63 Reddit comments discussing the best mental health books. We ranked the 22 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 63 Reddit comments discussing the best mental health books. We ranked the 22 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Try The Essential Difference, written by a Cambridge professor of psychology.
>Men have a tendency to analyze and construct systems while women are inclined to empathize. With fresh evidence for these claims, Baron-Cohen explores how these sex differences arise more from biological than cultural causes and shows us how each brain type contributes in various ways to what we think of as "intelligence." Emphasizing that not all men have the typically "male" brain, which he calls Type "S," and not all women have the typically female brain (Type "E"), Baron-Cohen explores the cutting-edge research that illuminates our individual differences and explains why a truly "balanced" brain is so rare.
Very roughly, most girls use toys as ways of facilitating empathy play, and most boys use toys as tools for understanding how things work, due to inherent differences of the male and female mind. This doesn't mean nurture doesn't play a part in this, just that nature shouldn't be completely disregarded.
As for postmodernism I'll reiterate what I was saying in the other tread : if you take the principle of charity seriously you shouldn't argue about postmodernism at all because it's not a real theory actually endorsed by any of the very diverse authors lumped together under this label.
This would be a great time for Scott to engage with these ideas by reviewing a Michel Foucault book, the guy whose ideas we're mostly talking about when we talk about postmodernism.
The perfect choice would be Madness and Civilization :
Not a doctor nor a psychiatrist, but I've had to deal with mental illness in my family. The inability to recognize clinically evident symptoms is called anosognosia and treating for it is difficult and unintuitive.
I want to mention a book for OP and any others dealing with potential anosognosia in their life:
I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help by Xavier Amador--written by a psychiatrist whose brother developed schizophrenia. He gives excellent advice to those wanting to advocate on behalf of family with no insight into their illness.
Yeah, this is the author of "The Myth of Mental Illness."
What a fucking douche.
So, I have some fairly significant mental health issues, and I have NEVER heard of anyone credible saying "don't take your meds." There are no magic rituals that can banish mental health issues. Most Wiccan ministers will actively encourage you to seek out counseling and medical care.
That being said, I have found that meditation, shadow work (which is hard as hell) and spiritual growth combined with my therapy has made huge strides in my mental health. But that is not magic, that is committing to make oneself better, which is more about Wiccan beliefs than magic.
You might want to check out Dark Shades of Illusion a book written by a Wiccan with major mental health issues.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks
Is There No Place on Earth for Me? by Susan Sheehan
LEAP: Listen, Empathize, Agree, Partner.
Reflective listening is key. Hear out your friend/family member completely, genuinely, and act like a reporter who is trying to learn all you can without judgement about what they live with. "It sounds like you don't want to live life like this, and you want things to change".
Empathize with the emotional difficulty of their disorder, and don't force your onions of treatment (i.e. you need to check into rehab, you need to be with a therapist, etc.). "It must be tough to feel unhealthy all the time, like you could be better".
Agree on things often to build trust. "I too want you to have a higher quality life."
Partner to work towards a solution. "I would love to help you get help, and we can find someone together. I'm just here for you to get through this"
This is a great book on the subject.
Not a doctor, just a husband with a loved one with a mental illness.
Read "I'm not sick and I don't need help" by Xavier Amador. It really helped me learn to deal with a similar situation.
http://www.amazon.com/Not-Sick-Dont-Need-Help/dp/0967718929
I think you need to read up before telling anyone to "take a step back".
> Saying that sexual abuse of children can be explained as a mental illness in the abuser (it can't be, at least not with modern psychology that presently exists).
WTF?! Let me quote:
"As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia or paedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in persons 16 years of age or older...
psychiatric disorder which we criminalize because it is a threat and has safely issues but a psychiatric disorder nonetheless.
And in case Wikipedia isn't good enough for you, try WebMD:
"Does the medical community consider pedophilia to be a mental disorder? Yes. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has included pedophilia in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders since 1968."
I don't know where you are getting your info from. Certainly not from the field that is responsible for classifying it.
Furthermore people who offend may start as victims themselves. It has always been regarded as some sort of sickness and demonizing people who are victims and/or later offenders is part of what has helped escalate abuse.
Also note this is a taboo subject. Go research why it is a taboo subject. Then look up what taboo means. This goes to why this specific crime often has the gravitas that it does.
> 2) Saying that people that want to punish criminals for having done awful things are worse than the abusers (rapists, child molesters, etc.)
And you haven't see that? I have seen cases where seemingly normal people salivate at the possibility of torturing people who are offenders like they are a group of villagers going after Frankenstein. Not simply an "eye for an eye" mentality, but an actual fetish-like glee of torturing people who have been offenders with little or no understanding of if.
I have the theory why this might be the case. While I'm sure most people don't have leaning towards being on offender, it would appear the more outraged you are about the topic, the more you illustrate that you are against it, so not unlike people who are homophobic (but inwardly might be gay) I think people who act out violently are processing some issues of their own, what they are, I don't know.
But no, in a civil society, people should not take pleasure in punishment, that is sadistic, while not an illness per se, is often a precursor to one. For activity that is criminalized it should be about reform, and when that is not possible, separation from society in a way that is safe for both society and the offender.
As an example, I heard of a guy who got together with friends and looked to burn an individual all over his body with a hot iron. Now if you haven't had some sort of mind-altering event to cause this sort of snap, would you say that is normal behavior? Because "Take a step back and realize that" is what you seem to be saying. That is what I was addressing. I know of no other crime that inspires this sort of mentality.
Moving outward toward a more general perspective, note how many people gleefully cheer prison rape. I've wondered why America seems to be like that while other well developed countries may not be, and I'd say it probably can be explained by the degree we have a theistic background.
> Where are you getting this stuff? NAMBLA?
First off, females don't offend? Where are you getting your stuff from.
Secondly, seriously, that is insulting. At the least you owe me an apology. I'm getting this stuff from studying psychology before deciding to go into a different field.
Here are some links for further reading about America's knack for criminalizing social and mental issues:
Geez, try to have a sane, civil discussion. You almost illustrate the point I'm trying to make.
Please be very careful with this whole "repressed memories" business. First, there's a long sordid history of therapists "helping" patients "remember" things that never actually happened. And second, it's not at all clear that dredging up repressed memories is beneficial.
I would strongly suggest that you see a different therapist, one with a healthy skepticism of repressed memory retrieval, and discuss whether you may have been led into believing you're remembering things.
Also, it might be helpful to read a book or two on the subject:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Myth-Repressed-Memory-Allegations/dp/0312141238/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
http://www.amazon.com/Try-Remember-Psychiatrys-Meaning-Memory/dp/1932594396/ref=pd_cp_b_2
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Monsters-Richard-Ofshe/dp/0684196980/ref=pd_cp_b_3
http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Like-Us-Globalization-American/dp/141658708X
Howdy. Thanks for talking about it. It sound bad man, you seem to be really crying out and wanting to get into trouble one way or another. I entirely understand that, I'm not condemning it as much as just mirroring it back.
I saw you post this on another thread:
> i have "girl feelings" often, so i get you.
I'm pretty much that way. Let me share a bit about myself. Just to build some context on some advice. In fact, I consider myself way over-empathetic compared to "average" of current society. There are some recent studies that say Aspergers people (mostly males with extreme brains, this book is about Aspergers: http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Difference-Truth-about-Female/dp/0738208442 ) can have too much empathy. Genetics, environment, I don't know... but I'm a bit curious of this current emo trend in society.
It has really helped me in my relationships with people to be dramatic in content - not presentation - with my talking. To pull out legendary stories and say - yes, I'm not crazy, I'm just a bit extreme in my thinking. If you get good at it, most accept it. In many ways, this past 12 months has been a major social improvement in my life.
Prior to this, people liked to praise me as a computer genius, but they don't understand that my brain is this way - it isn't something I can choose to "turn off" in other areas of life. I have developed a rather unique and different way of looking at life. To carry books with me ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1843105373/ is a small on I carry ) in my laptop bag. I don't use it very often, but at times it helps to explain to people that there really are genetic issues that don't just go away. We manage them, we do our best.
From Wikipedia: "Compassion is a human emotion prompted by the pain of others. More vigorous than empathy, the feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering."
It might sound simplistic... but helping people, local homeless - people here. Has given me an outlet for my empathy! Instead of suppressing it, I drain it. And now I'm divorced and dating - looking for a partner in the crime of life - I am up front within the first few days as to my issues. Essentially, I'm a bit on the higher-maintenance scale. It's freedom now, I can be more myself, and actually get help from my friends instead of having to constantly try to conform / be something I'm not.
I share all this in hopes you can look at the parts of your own life and see if perhaps there is some way you can get your wife or a good friend to truly understand you have lifelong problems. that you don't react to stress like most do, it isn't fun - but it eats at you. some people thing stress is motivation, a "punish" and "whip" approach to motivation. For me, it's the opposite. I much prefer to be gently and repeatedly encouraged more like a child. I don't give a shit if people consider me a bit childish, it's real, you bring it up with my genetics or nature or god - but I'm sick of having so many people fix me.
> i imagine a Glock 9mm. the barrel forced past my tonsils as i supress the gag reflex and pull the trigger. "the cop method" of going out.
I've never had anything like this. That's far beyond what I feel. You really need to consider putting a big halt or change in your life... it's clear you are letting this image sear into your head. Time to eject.
We can keep talking, I'm not beyond even talking to your wife on the phone or what. Can we sort out a person in your life you can keep talking to daily on the phone or something? You need a buddy until you get past this. It can be people here on reddit, but ideally your wife is doing her best. it's clear you have a long-term problem, and people want quick fixes, but sometimes it isn't quick fixes. Somebody permanently in a wheelchair doesn't get "quick fixes", it's a lifestyle change. Do you think you are dealing with life-long issues here.... that need more than quick fixes?
The western man is supposed to be unique, all about individuality - but I find right now it's not really desired. Everyone just wants you to be a breadwinner, a quiet person (don't express your opinion unless it agrees with mine seems the current norm). Unless you are famous or really good looking or really cool - you don't compete with the people on TV, music, movies. I'm generalizing here, but these technologies are only 100 years old - and an iPod carrying around all this self-selected content does have a real impact on society and human to human interaction. How much, nobody can precisely measure, but I see it. I do a lot of travel (Austin, Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, San Francisco all since September)
On this message (my response here), I know I'm all over the board a bit. Partly me today (I'm in a hurry, and a few things on my mind), but partly I'm trying to scatter your mind a bit with some new approaches to this - you gotta break this dead-end thinking you are on - and you know it.
Short answer (inspired by this):
Also, bear in mind the difference between cognitive empathy vs. affective empathy. Women tend to be so naturally adept at all sorts of empathy that they may not realize there's a difference between caring what someone thinks or feels (or something else about their inner state) vs. knowing what they think or feel. If a man is any good at one, he's likely not so good at the other; if he can read and respond to your feelings or attitudes, he still may not actually care much about you, and if he has care and concern for you, he still may not be able to tell what you think or feel if you don't tell him about it.
> So far no-one has come forth saying that they were a victim or that a loved one was a victim of Comet Pizza's alleged sex-trafficking ring. Literally no one.
Give it time. Once it's sunk into the public consciousness a little more we'll see people coming forward; there's still a substantial group of unlicensed therapists who practice recovered memory hypnosis techniques, and there's true believers embedded in various police forces and prosecutors offices who went to the old training seminars. Police officers in the US and UK were being given 'cult awareness training' and 'ritual crimes training' and so on well into the 00's, maybe they still are in some places. It's difficult to understate just how deeply the ideas that fuelled the satanic panic were embedded in many areas of therapeutic practice and law enforcement. There were some hints of it that came up to cloud the revelations surrounding the Jimmy Savile affair in the UK (unlikely reports of cloaked necrophiliac orgies in hospital morgues and so on) and there have been plenty of dubious and false accusations mixed in with the real ones there. This book is a good primer. It's very hard for a lot of people to take a critical approach to this sort of thing, given the outrage people feel over child abuse and the very real sagas of abuse and cover-up that have emerged over the last twenty years (the catholic church and whatnot). The important thing is to try and look at the patterns that emerge from the real cases and the fake cases.
Hey. Sorry for your loss. Here's an unordered list of things I'd like to hear about:
Madness Explained - Psychosis and Human Nature
I am so sorry you are going through this. I highly recommend you read the book I'm Not Sick, I Don't Need Help by Dr. Amador. His brother had SAD. Excellent book. I also suggest getting involved in NAMI if you are lucky enough to have a chapter in your area. You are in for a hard lonely battle. Be sure to take care of yourself first, then your partner (if you are lucky enough to have one). Only with those two pieces in place can you hope to take care of your son. Feel free to PM if you have questions. I wish you the best.
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If he's taking the meds.
The best book I've seen for friends/family of folks with mental illnesses is called I Am Not Sick; I Don't Need Help. Your friend likely has little insight into his own illness, and you may or may not be the person to be helping him. It can give you some advice for supporting him and trying to have more "normal" interactions with him.
If you haven't already read Xavier Amadour's I'm Not Sick and I Don't Need Help yet, I would highly recommend it. I wish you the best of luck. It's a very long journey to the mythic place called "recovery".
Get this guys book. Seriously.
Behavioral Health is Mental Health. Thank you for pointing out the scientology connection. I'm not so accurate at scrutinizing the websites for certainty, I'll post a couple more articles if you'd like to review them for anything snide.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/legislators-warned-of-patient-abuse-potential-fraud-in-50-billion-for-profit-psychiatric-behavioral-market-300575229.html
https://www.behavioral.net/article/fraud-waste-and-abuse-are-dishonorable-trinity-behavioral-healthcare-2
https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20180423.449595/full/
https://oig.hhs.gov/newsroom/spotlight/2013/cmhc.asp
Here's a book from 1994 as well, I'll point out that its like 20 years old now if you'd like to highlight that
https://www.amazon.com/Bedlam-Profiteering-Mental-Health-System/dp/0312104219
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/welcome-ad?toURL=/clinical-care/houston-psychiatrist-gets-12-years-prison-155m-medicare-fraud
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/antifraud/as-much-as-20-percent-mental-health-funds-lost-to-fraud-waste-abuse
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/investigations/colorado-downgrades-clear-view-behavioral-healths-license-amid-contact7-investigation
https://www.nelsonhardiman.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/HCCJ_0910_18_Rothenberg.pdf
https://www.quackwatch.org/
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/06/20/immigrant-children-forcibly-injected-drugs-lawsuit-claims/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-roving-psychologist/201109/has-psychiatry-been-corrupted-beyond-repair
http://www.amazon.com/Search-For-The-Real-Self/dp/B001PO681A
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3901606W/Search_For_The_Real_Self
If you want the DSM-IV view, it's here.
But if you want a more in-depth discussion about the nature of madness and psychosis, perhaps this would be a good start.
Search For The Real Self: Unmasking The Personality Disorders Of Our Age by James F. Masterson, MD. The book is the most sensible and coherent explanation on why a person develops a BP.
I tried to go over my kindle highlights as I've read it quite a few years ago and wouldn't want to say something incorrect and I am now sure it blended in my memory with some other works from him that I've read like this one where he writes about 11 cases of families with schizophrenic child
https://www.amazon.com/Sanity-Madness-Family-Schizophrenics-psychology/dp/0140211578/
Anyways, you mentioned lifelong eccentricity as a factor and for me the impression of his work was in the mould of treating every patient as a part of family unit, and he tried to uncover reality of that unit, and what would strike him as odd was that parents always used similar language about patients (their kids) being normal, or 'not that weird, etc.' only until some psychotic episode or other happened, where they couldn't further repress it, and strinkingly what connected many families was that the parents wouldn't acknowledge at all their part of the problem, or situation, even if they mistreated the child in the past.
It is really interesting reading, and I don't remember that many particulars, so if you are interested I can try to get the PDF your way.
Since you're in NYC have you tried looking at getting psychodynamic psychotherapy at a psychoanalytic institute? There's Transference-focused psychotherapy at NewYork-Presbyterian Weil Cornell Hospital. I know NYP offers DBT as well, if you are to go that route.
Here is a comprehensive list of all the available therapies out there to treat BPD. Because you're in NYC, you have a wider-range of available specialized therapies, than just the more popularized DBT out there.
Edit: I also found this blog post with comments critiquing their experiences at St Lukes Roosevelt Hospital's Center for Intensive Treatment of Personality Disorders (CITPD).
Maybe you can get your father to read James F Masterson's Search For the Real Self first to ease the interpersonal burden of reconciling with the past and to rekindle and ameliorate things? It may help ease the burden as it's a simplified to-the-point introductory description of folks with not just BPD but in the perspective of personality disorders in general. Alternatively, you can parse it for a limited duration for free by borrowing it online through Open Library to see what you think of it as well - account registration is required.
I like
Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep.
Its a fun way for a lay or intro level person to learn about the brain and how it might go wrong.
https://www.amazon.com/Zombies-Dream-Undead-Sheep-Neuroscientific/dp/0691157286/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=W171LKDLS8XY&keywords=do+zombies+dream+of+undead+sheep&qid=1556232073&s=gateway&sprefix=Do+zombies+dream+of+undead+sheep%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
and
The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat
Others have recommended this one as well!
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/1416542787/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15TI9WPP14JCL&keywords=the+man+who+mistook+his+wife+for+a+hat&qid=1556232116&s=gateway&sprefix=The+man+who+mist%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1
You may be surprised to hear this, but MS is not a hereditary disorder. Your family may be like mine, wherein autoimmune disorders, in general, run in the family, but even in my family, even that is questionable. What is significantly more likely to be happening in my family (and maybe yours) has to do with epigenetics. Go down that rabbit hole, it's fascinating. The MS center I go to has been offering my family to graduate medical researchers to study if/how epigenetics has played a role in the autoimmune diseases we all seem to have (especially because we have all spent most of our lives geographically and socio-culturally close to each other.
Mental illness in early hominids or even early H. sapiens is absolutely fascinating to me, though any information we find can only be inferred from things like endocasts, other neuro-structural elements in the fossil record, and from the behavior of mammals and primates, apes in particular. It can also be inferred from mental illnesses that are found to be caused 100% by biology. This book gives a thorough overview of mental illness in animals and the research studies she cites could be looked at in the quest for our own maladies. Other things we look at are mental health disorders that we know to be found in all current human cultures, with evidence in some past cultures. Schizophrenia is a good example.
We have to be careful of culture-specific disorders and disorders that are not considered disorders in other cultures. I'll give you some reading for thins:
This book is not directly about a mental health disorder, but it shows why medical and psychological anthropology is vital to living in a melting pot like the US. I have stories from my mentor, a forensic and bioanthropologist, that are similar.
This book is an absolutely fascinating book that talks about how the mental health framework has been exported all over the world. Again, it's not directly able to talk about mental illness in early hominid species, but I think it important to understand while we are on that search.
Hopefully those books will help you with your questions, at least until more fossil evidence is found, since endocasts are not just popping up everyday!
Not being young myself, read this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Divided-Self-Existential-Sanity-Madness/dp/0141189371
Take a herbal bath and call me in the morning.
This is a good start
and so is this!
This is, possibly surprisingly, good too.
If you're looking to jump right into a text and think you have a grip on the language, try Foucault's Madness and Civilization It's great and pretty easy to read.
Another good introduction (or at least, MY introduction to philosophy is Slavoj Zizek. He's pretty easy to read and understand, but makes ties to Lacan, Nietzsche, Heidegger, etc in a cohesive manner that makes you want to learn more. Of his work, I'd check out The Sublime Object of Ideology, The Parallax View or watch his movie! (Which is extraordinarily entertaining for how dense it is. He's also kind of amazing in a philosophical rock star kind of way.)
Hope that gets you started!
This is not diagnostically useful for two reasons:
but it's quite common use "I" in external monologues (talk about whatever you want), but their own name internally.
Detached, emotionally numb, clinical, precise, virtuosic.
See if you can find this book, excellent LI5 read.
I’ve heard good things about this book and it’s usually recommended by professionals.
I Am Not Sick I Don't Need Help: How to Help Someone with Mental Illness Accept Treatment By Xavier Amador https://www.amazon.com/Not-Sick-Dont-Need-Help/dp/0967718929
Hope it helps.
You know, that's the second book in the last two hours that someone has recommended that I'd like to read but can't afford. Is there some kind of book bit torrent I can find these at? The other one is this.
I have Inner Work and Search for the Real Self from my psychotherapy class. Would you be interested in those?
> Do you believe that people that drink human blood is a real thing? Why or why not?
They do. The world has 7 billion people in it, and a few of those people will believe they are anything, from dogs to vampires. The human mind is very flexible.
> Do you agree that the CIA / MKULTRA has connections to cult activity - such as the Jim Jones cult?
The wikipedia page of the Jim Jones cult conspiracies has 3 conspiracies; incorrect/rising body count, CIA involvement, and Russia. The body count was probably low to begin with and grew as people found more corpses. That always happens during tragedies. The CIA probably did have people that at minimum knew the Jim Jones situation was likely to spiral out of control. Did the CIA influence it, or just let it happen. Could be either.
The Russia bit... well, that is Russia just being Russia and making stuff up.
> Are you familiar with the Franklin Cover Up? The 80's were a particularly weird time? Maybe. Why do you say this?
The vast majority of the 80's Satanic panic was a combination of media hype and bad therapeutic techniques. Ironically enough, a lot of the problematic memory therapy used techniques very similar to CIA MKULTRA interrogation methods.
> Kathy Sorenson or even Fiona Barnett
I haven't specifically looked into either.
> I couldn't access the above paper in your link - not even an abstract.
I grant you the secret of scihub, use it wisely. Paper.
If you want another CIA MK ULTRA link, look at Charles Manson and the CIA.
The world does contain real conspiracies... they just don't involve psychic powers, flat earths, aliens, big foot and reptilians... its worse. Because "people are monsters".
Hi Fried, I don't agree that what gets labeled schizophrenia is a "disorder" - that's a value judgment about how people respond to adverse experiences, psychological and biological.
Also do not agree that these problems have a biological origin (if by origin one means cause); that has never been confirmed. What I believe is that there are biological and epigenetic correlates to extreme distress as the person and environment interact.
Lastly, there been many, many accounts of full recovery from a diagnosis of schizophrenia; I thought that issue was already resolved and am always sincerely surprised when people say they think schizophrenia is incurable. I'll paste in here my list of reading of intensive psychotherapeutic approaches to schizophrenia, starting from decades ago and going up till the present, which contains a few hundred cases with many stories of "cure"; I think if people were more familiar with this work they'd be a lot more optimistic:
Wilhelm Reich (1945) – Character Analysis, 3rd Edition
http://www.amazon.com/Character-Analysis-Wilhelm-Reich/dp/0374509808/
Paul Federn (1952) – Ego Psychology and the Psychoses
http://www.amazon.com/psychology-psychoses-basic-classics-psychiatry/dp/B0007DODH6/
Freida-Fromm Reichmann (1960) – Principles of Intensive Psychotherapy
http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Intensive-Psychotherapy-Phoenix-Books/dp/0226265994/
Bryce Boyer and Peter Giovacchini (1967)– Psychoanalytic Treatment of Characterological and Schizophrenic Disorders
http://www.amazon.com/Psychoanalytic-treatment-schizophrenic-characterological-disorders/dp/B0006BOYG4/
Harold Searles (1968) – Schizophrenia and Related Subjects –
http://www.amazon.com/Collected-Schizophrenia-Related-Subjects-Maresfield/dp/0946439303/
Elvin Semrad (1969) – Teaching Psychotherapy of Psychotic Patients; Supervision of Beginning Residents in the “Clinical Approach”.
http://www.amazon.com/Psychotherapy-Psychotic-Supervision-Beginning-Residents/dp/080890423X/
Bryce Boyer, ed. (1973) - Master Clinicians on Treating the Regressed Patient Volume 1
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Clinicians-Treating-Regressed-Patient/dp/0876688342
Silvano Arieti (1974) – Interpretation of Schizophrenia, 2nd Edition
http://www.amazon.com/Interpretation-Schizophrenia-Silvano-Arieti/dp/0465034292/
Vamik Volkan (1976) – Primitive Internalized Object Relations: A Clinical Study of Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizophrenic Patients
http://www.amazon.com/Primitive-Internalized-Object-Relations-Schizophrenic/dp/0823649954/
Bertram Karon and Gary VandenBos (1977) – Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: The Treatment of Choice
http://www.amazon.com/Psychotherapy-Schizophrenia-The-Treatment-Choice-ebook/dp/B00C1OKHWO/
Bryce Boyer, ed. (1977) - Master Clinicians on Treating the Regressed Patient Volume 2
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Clinicians-Treating-Regressed-Patient/dp/1568210043
Gaetano Benedetti (1977) – Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia
http://www.amazon.com/Psychotherapy-Schizophrenia-Master-Work/dp/1568217560/
Harold Searles (1979) – The Nonhuman Environment in Normal Development and in Schizophrenia
http://www.amazon.com/Nonhuman-Environment-Normal-Development-Schizophrenia/dp/B007BNLLNE/
Harold Searles (1979) – Countertransference and Related Subjects
http://www.amazon.com/Countertransference-Related-Subjects-Selected-Papers/dp/0823610853
Ping-Nie Pao (1979) – Schizophrenic Disorders: Theory and Treatment from a Psychodynamic Point of View
http://www.amazon.com/Schizophrenic-Disorders-Theory-Treatment-Psychodynamic/dp/0823659909/
Donald Rinsley (1980) – Treatment of the Severely Disturbed Adolescent
http://www.amazon.com/Treatment-Severely-Disturbed-Adolescent-Rinsley/dp/1568212224/
Bryce Boyer (1983) – The Regressed Patient
http://www.amazon.com/Regressed-Patient-Bryce-L-Boyer/dp/0876686269/
Herbert Rosenfeld (1985) – Psychotic States: A Psychoanalytical Approach
http://www.amazon.com/Psychotic-States-Psychoanalytic-Approach-Maresfield/dp/0950714682/
Herbert Rosenfeld (1987) – Impasse and Interpretation: Therapeutic and Anti-Therapeutic Factors in the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Psychotic, Borderline, and Neurotic Patients
http://www.amazon.com/Impasse-Interpretation-Anti-Therapeutic-Psychoanalytic-Psychoanalysis/dp/0415010128/
Bent Rosenbaum (1988) – The Language of Psychosis
http://www.amazon.com/Language-Psychosis-Bent-Rosenbaum/dp/0814774032
Thomas Ogden (1988) – The Primitive Edge of Experience
http://www.amazon.com/Primitive-Edge-Experience-Thomas-Ogden-ebook/dp/B001XCVU4E/
Edward Podvoll (1991) – The Seduction of Madness: Revolutionary Insights into the World of Psychosis and a Compassionate Approach to Recovery at Home
http://www.amazon.com/Seduction-Madness-Revolutionary-Psychosis-Compassionate/dp/0060921188/
David Rosenfeld (1992) – The Psychotic Aspects of the Personality
http://www.amazon.com/Psychotic-Aspects-Personality-David-Rosenfeld-ebook/dp/B005NYS2C6/
Gaetano Benedetti and Pier-Maria Furlan (1993) – Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: Effective Clinical Approaches – Controversies, Critiques and Recommendations
http://www.amazon.com/Psychotherapy-Schizophrenia-Effective-Approaches-Controversies-Recommendations/dp/088937077X/
Michael Robbins (1993) – Experiences of Schizophrenia: An Integration of the Personal, Scientific, and Therapeutic
http://www.amazon.com/Experiences-Schizophrenia-Integration-Scientific-Therapeutic/dp/0898629977/
Ramnerö and Törneke: The ABCs of Human Behavior
https://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Human-Behavior-Behavioral-Principles/dp/1572245387
Very thorough and basic book about fundamental behavioral analysis. You may not have heard of the authors, but trust me, it's got what you're looking for.
I have a book suggestion for you called "I'm Not Sick, I Don't Need Help" It's written for families of loved ones suffering from mental health issues and it's about how to convince them to eventually seek help. Good luck!
The Tao of Psychology: Synchronicity and the Self - Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD
Exploring Madness: Experience, Theory, and Research - James Fadiman
Just look at the links and answer this question: If women's underrepresentation in maths and science is because of inherent underlying differences in the brain, then why does their participation and performance in maths and science change with time, with culture, with stereotype threat, with parental influence and with training?
And of course I'm a feminist: I believe men and women are equal and should have equal respect, rights and opportunities.
ETA: you cited Baron Cohen. You don't think he has an agenda?? http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Difference-Truth-About-Female/dp/0738208442 The difference is who has facts to back up her/his position.
> I am focusing on these cases because the calls for improving mental health is cited as some kind of fix to this situation.
You're picking out specific cases and asking to solve those, when it's being cited as a way to improve the situation as a whole. If you're looking for a solution that prevents 100% of all spree killings ever, I think you're right, no practical solution exists -- very few problems of this scale are ever truly fixed, such that they can never happen again. Smallpox is the only example that comes to mind.
> How could an overhaul of mental health identify spree killers who are not already identified as having mental health issues?
Even if it didn't, I think my comment above applies -- some spree killers were identified as having mental health issues.
Increased awareness and decreased stigma could help identify people who have mental issues before they become killers.
> If you do find someone at risk for violence what then? What can you do with that information?
Depends on the level of risk, of course, but consider one of your examples: James Holmes was almost involuntarily committed. Had he been committed, he would've been held for treatment until he was much less likely to be a danger to himself or others. If he never met the criteria for release, that's sad, but that means he'd be held in an environment where he physically can't commit a spree killing.
But there are plenty of other scenarios -- you could have someone who isn't yet a danger, but may become so if they don't get help. Right now, people often don't seek help, because of the stigma -- even after the fact, Ted Kaczynski refused to make an insanity plea. There's a very good book about how difficult it can be to convince a loved one that there's even something wrong. (I can tell you from personal experience that it can be incredibly difficult -- often the illness itself will interfere with the very kind of insight the person would need to realize they're sick. We don't need to be piling societal judgement on top of that!)
And even when people seek help, therapy is expensive. And even when they can afford the therapy, even if they can afford the drugs, and even if they'll cooperate with all these things, and even if it then works perfectly and they end up graduating from the medication to being truly normal, they often won't tell anyone for fear of being seen as weird, despite how surprisingly common this is.
Fix that, and you might prevent more people from becoming dangers in the first place, or at least ensure that more people end up being detected and committed before they can kill anyone.
You could accuse me of picking out specific examples with Holmes and Kaczynski, but I only need an existence proof -- maybe this only works for Holmes, and wouldn't have helped Lanza, I don't know. My only claim here is that a) this would probably reduce the number of spree killings (but not eliminate it), and b) even if it didn't, it would improve things for the better, so we should do it anyway.
"Do you really think that large numbers of men and women starve themselves because they want to?"
No, I think it's iatrogenic, just like multiple personality disorder. I'm not sure why I'm being downvoted for this, as Ethan Watters makes a great case for it in his book Crazy Like Us:
http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Like-Us-Globalization-American/dp/141658708X
"Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche"
You don't have to take my word for it, but I, a rando on the internet, wasn't the first one to make that assertion, if you'd like to read 300 pages of Foucault explaining that theory further instead.
The fact that we dont completely know how something works doesnt mean that we cant make observations on it based on evidence. Male and Female brains, on average, have some pretty consistent characteristics that are different from each other. There is some interesting reading to do on the subject, such as:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Essential-Difference-Truth-Female/dp/0738208442
> The only value of living in a democracy comes from the fact that the people can change the way the state acts, and in our current system that is near impossible.
Ok, well what if the voters want more of the same? If the function of democracy is to change the way the state acts, then democracy is going against the will of the people.
> I genuinely think that you are far more deluded than the person you originally responded to.
Well, thanks. Is this really necessary, it's just abusive. I bet you wouldn't be happy about abusive people having a say in governance.
> You think that even if nobody has any real say in how the government works, everything will just turn out fine anyway.
I didn't say or mean that. I was merely alluding to the fact that democracy like all non-utopian political systems has its issues.
> You don't give any value to the idea of personal agency in terms of state governance
What does this even mean?
> and frankly you're just a bit mental.
Cool, I'll call up my GP and let them know /u/TheresanotherJoswell thinks so. Seriously though you should give this a read through before you start calling people mental.
you sound like a right twat, condescending to someone younger, arrogant because you live in a shithole. http://youtu.be/VtkRM0LSwx8 have a video, seeing as you're so keen to throw them around, and i'll buy you this book too. it's only 1 cent, used.
You're far better off reading these books than wasting time with Peterson. Peterson's works are a soothing balm, these men sought after absolute truths -
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Thrift-Editions-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/048629823X
https://www.amazon.com/Critique-Pure-Reason-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140447474/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527773842&sr=1-1&keywords=kant
https://www.amazon.com/Madness-Civilization-History-Insanity-Reason/dp/067972110X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527773870&sr=1-4&keywords=foucault&dpID=41FzjCBzJJL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
https://www.amazon.com/Nicomachean-Ethics-Aristotle/dp/0872204642/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527773951&sr=1-6&keywords=aristotle&dpID=31b2stlDDgL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
https://www.amazon.com/Republic-Dover-Thrift-Editions-ebook/dp/B00A73FJ10/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527774019&sr=1-4&keywords=aristotle+the+republic&dpID=51dfJWGupmL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch