The practice of psychiatry has undergone great changes in recent years. In this book, Joel Paris, MD, a veteran psychiatrist, provides a fluently written and accessible "state-of-the-field" assessment. Himself a clinician, researcher, and teacher, Paris focuses on the most striking change within the field - the diverging roles of psychopharmacology and psychotherapy in contemporary practice. Where once psychiatrists were trained in Freudian psychoanalysis - which involved, more than anything else, talking - current pressures in mental health practice, including those imposed by managed care, are leading psychiatrists to treat more and more of their patients exclusively with medication, which is cheaper and faster. At the same time, psychotherapy is increasingly not being taught to new psychiatrists-in-training, even though, as Paris reveals, there is scientific evidence that both talk therapies and medication can play an important role in the treatment of mental illness. These developments are occuring against a backdrop of exploding research in the genetics and neurobiology of mental illness that will continue to drive the field. Paris ends by contemplating how going forward psychiatry can best respond to all these forces and proposes a team-based approach to mental health care. The book will appeal both to specialists and nonspecialists, particularly psychiatric residents and fellows, medical students considering specialization in psychiatry, clinical psychologists, social workers, and general readers, especially consumers of mental health services.

Too many Americans are taking too many drugs -- and it's costing us our health, happiness, and lives. Prescription drug use in America has increased tenfold in the past 50 years, and over-the-counter drug use has risen just as dramatically. In addition to the dozens of medications we take to treat serious illnesses, we take drugs to help us sleep, to keep us awake, to keep our noses from running, our backs from aching, and our minds from racing. Name a symptom, there's a pill to suppress it. Modern drugs can be miraculously life-saving, and many illnesses demand their use. But what happens when our reliance on powerful pharmaceuticals blinds us to their risks? Painful side effects and dependency are common, and adverse drug reactions are America's fourth leading cause of death. In Mind over Meds, bestselling author Dr. Andrew Weil alerts readers to the problem of overmedication, and outlines when medicine is necessary, and when it is not. Dr. Weil examines how we came to be so drastically overmedicated, presents science that proves drugs aren't always the best option, and provides reliable integrative medicine approaches to treating common ailments like high blood pressure, allergies, depression, and even the common cold. With case histories, healthy alternative treatments, and input from other leading physicians, Mind over Meds is the go-to resource for anyone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Towards the end of the twentieth century, the solution to mental illness seemed to be found. It lay in biological solutions, focusing on mental illness as a problem of the brain, to be managed or improved through drugs. We entered the 'Prozac Age' and believed we had moved on definitively from the time of frontal lobotomies to an age of good and successful mental healthcare. Biological psychiatry had triumphed. Except maybe it hadn't. Starting with surprising evidence from the World Health Organisation that suggests people recover better from mental illness in a developing country than in the first world, Doctoring the Mind asks the question: how good are our mental health services, really? Richard Bentall picks apart the science that underlies current psychiatric practice across the US and UK. Arguing passionately for a future of mental health treatment that focuses as much on patients as individuals as on the brain itself, this is a book set to redefine our understanding of the treatment of madness in the twenty-first century.

The US edition of the bestselling The Poetry Pharmacy A beautiful collection of curated poems each individually selected to provide hope, comfort, and inspiration—for all of life's most difficult moments Sometimes only a poem will do. These poetic prescriptions and wise words of advice are tailored to those moments in life when we need them most, from general glumness to news overload, and from infatuation to losing the spark. Whatever you’re facing, there is a poem in these pages that will do the trick. This pocket-size companion presents the most essential fixes in William Sieghart’s poetic dispensary—those that, again and again, have shown themselves to hit the spot. Whether you are suffering from loneliness, lack of courage, heartbreak, hopelessness, or even an excess of ego—or whether you are seeking hope, comfort, inspiration, or excitement—The Poetry Remedy will provide just the poem you need in that moment.

Presents evidence from medical journals that beliefs, thoughts, and feelings can cure the body and shows readers how to apply this knowledge in their own lives. -- provided by publisher.

A pioneer in the personal growth field and a lifelong peace advocate, Ken Keyes, Jr., contracted polio at age 27 which confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Yet he looked upon it as a blessing: I view my so-called 'handicap' as another gift my life has offered me. This deceptively simple little book contains three secrets-three prescriptions from this self-described happiness doctor-which are at once obvious and profoundly life-changing.

New York Times bestseller and beloved guide, revised and updated with up-to-the minute scientific and spiritual insight, teaches readers how to listen to their bodies and assess all areas of their lives--relational, psychological, creative, environmental, professional--to understand what they need for health. "What a pleasure it is to see the next generation of physicians waking up to what I call real medicine--the kind that acknowledges our true power to heal and be well." - Christiane Northrup, M.D., OB/GYN physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers: Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause When Mind Over Medicine was first published, it broke new ground in the fertile region where science and spirituality intersect. Through the process of restoring her own health, Dr. Lissa Rankin discovered that the conventional health care she had been taught to practice was missing something crucial: a recognition of the body's innate ability to self-repair and an appreciation for how we can control these self-healing mechanisms with the power of our own consciousness. To better understand this phenomenon, she explored peer-reviewed medical literature and found evidence that the medical establishment had been proving that the body can heal itself for over 50 years. She shared her findings and laid out a practical plan for readers to heal themselves in this profoundly wise book--a New York Times bestseller and now a classic guide for people who are on a healing journey from illness, injury, or trauma. In the years since then, Dr. Rankin has deepened her exploration of the world's healing tradition and her understanding of the healing power we hold within ourselves--if only we can tap into it. This revised edition of Mind Over Medicine reflects her latest research, evolving wisdom, and work with clients and students in her healing community, as well as with doctors and other healers in her Whole Health Medicine Institute. Inside, readers will discover: • A thorough update of Dr. Rankin's signature Six Steps to Healing Yourself • New insight into how unresolved trauma can stand in the way of healing from chronic and life-threatening illnesses-and powerful tools we can use to heal it • How to tune in to our Inner Pilot Light for intuitive guidance in our healing And much more "The healing that is possible may be right here," Dr. Rankin writes, "closer than close, underneath all your efforting and striving, available if you are ready to humble yourself before this possibility and receive what awaits you."