Understanding troubled minds : a guide to mental illness and its treatment / Sidney Bloch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bloch, Sidney, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Psychology, Pathological--therapy.

Psychology, Pathological.

Mental illness--therapy.

Mental illness.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (356 pages)

Edition:

Updated edition.

Place of Publication:

Carlton, Australia : Melbourne University Press, 2014.

Summary:

Many of us take our mental health for granted, so when we are confronted by mental illness in friends or family members, or in ourselves, we can be overwhelmed. Understanding Troubled Minds is a calm and authoritative guide that takes us through the full range of mental illnesses and their treatments, emphasising the value of partnerships between psychiatrists, patients and their families. There are chapters that deal with mental illnesses afflicting children and adolescents, women and the elderly, as well as covering eating disorders, self-harm, gender identity and alcohol and drug dependence. Sidney Bloch, an eminent academic psychiatrist of many years' clinical experience, highlights the place of hope and optimism throughout, pointing to the great strides being made in the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses. Acknowledging the complexity of human nature, Professor Bloch weaves stories of real people and the insights of many writers and artists throughout the text. Balanced, humanistic and thoroughly readable, this updated edition of Understanding Troubled Minds serves as a practical guide to mental illness and its treatment.

Contents:

Intro

Understanding TROUBLED MINDS

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER 1 The History of Mental Illness and its Treatment

Literary descriptions of mental illness

The era of the asylum and advent of physical treatments

Great and desperate cures

The advent of psychological therapies

The contemporary scene

A mixed picture

CHAPTER 2 Making Sense of a Life

Vincent Van Gogh's life

His medical and psychiatric history

What can we make of all this?

Why the psychotic episodes?

The suicide

Combining understanding and explanation

Limitations of explanation

Other relevant perspectives

Conclusion

CHAPTER 3 Defining and Classifying Mental Illnesses

Why is classification necessary?

The core groups of mental illnesses

How the classification is used

CHAPTER 4 Getting to Know the Person

What is covered in the interview?

Examination of the mental state

Mini-mental state test

Physical examination and special investigations

Bringing it all together

The formulation

How do we plan therapy?

Where and by whom?

Compulsory treatment

The multi-disciplinary approach

How long should treatment continue?

CHAPTER 5 Stress, Crisis and Coping

Stress

Crisis

Coping

Defence mechanisms

Adaptation, or bringing it together

Stress and physical illness

Adjustment disorders

Acute stress reactions

Treatment and long-term problems

CHAPTER 6 The Spectrum of Anxiety

One anxiety or many?

What causes anxiety disorders?

General anxiety disorder

Panic disorder

Phobic disorders

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Treating the anxiety disorders

CHAPTER 7 The Highs and Lows of Mood

What is clinical depression?

How does the depressed person look?.

Mania-the other side of the coin

Mood disorders in clinical practice

Criteria for a major depressive episode (DSM-V)

What causes mood disorders?

Biological factors

Psychological and social factors

Physical illness and depression

Treating the depressed person

Psychological treatments

Physical treatments

Managing bipolar disorder including mania

Acute mania and hypomania

Preventing recurrence over the long term

Bipolar depression

CHAPTER 8 The Mind Talking through the Body

Why the mysterious leap from mind to body?

Who is likely to express emotion through their body?

The family as a crucible

How mental health professionals approach somatisation

Hypochondriasis

Conversion disorder

Psychogenic amnesia and fugue

Psychosomatic or psychophysiological disorders

The extreme somatising response

Malingering and factitious disorder

Treating both soma and psyche

CHAPTER 9 Eating Disorders

Anorexia nervosa

Treating anorexia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa

Binge-eating disorder

Obesity

CHAPTER 10 Disturbances of Personality

Types of problematic personalities

How common are they?

What leads to problematic personality types?

Problematic personalities and treatment

Specific problematic personalities

Cluster A

Cluster B

Cluster C

Principles of treatment

CHAPTER 11 The Psychoses

What is psychosis?

What causes psychosis?

How do we classify the psychoses?

Schizophrenia

Core features of schizophrenia

The other psychoses

Schizophreniform disorder

Psychotic mood disorders

Schizoaffective psychosis

Psychosis as a reaction

Delusional disorder

Drug-induced psychosis

Treating acute psychoses

Supporting the person and their family

Treating the first episode.

Conclusion

CHAPTER 12 Alcohol and Drug Abuse

What is substance abuse?

What causes substance abuse?

The cycle of abuse

Likely outcomes

Seeking help

What can be done to help those who abuse substances?

Different forms of substance abuse

Alcohol

Treating alcohol abuse

AA's Twelve Steps

Benzodiazepines

Opiates

Stimulants

Cannabis

Hallucinogens

Solvents

Polysubstance abuse

CHAPTER 13 Gender Identity and Sexual Disorders

Gender identity

Sexual dysfunction

Conditions affecting both men and women

Conditions affecting women

Vaginismus

Conditions affecting men

Problems with ejaculation

Treating sexual dysfunction

Treating erectile dysfunction

The paraphilias (sexual deviations)

CHAPTER 14 Children and Adolescents

The critical role of development

Development and clinical problems-the example of divorce

How do mental health professionals carry out their job?

Classifying clinical problems

PROBLEMS OF INFANCY AND EARLY CHILDHOOD (0-5 YEARS)

Sleep disturbances

Feeding and eating battles

Bladder and bowel disturbance

Attachment problems

Autism

PROBLEMS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN (6-12 YEARS)

Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)

Oppositional defiant and conduct disorders

Specific developmental problems

Tourette's disorder

Gender identity disorder

PROBLEMS OF ADOLESCENCE (13-18 YEARS)

Disorders of mood

Anxiety disorders

Substance abuse

Psychoses

Abuse in childhood and adolescence

Preventing emotional problems in children

CHAPTER 15 Women

Gender differences in patterns of illness

Mental health problems through the life cycle

The menstrual cycle

Motherhood

Infertility and pregnancy loss

Menopause

The elderly woman

The abused woman

Conclusion.

CHAPTER 16 The Elderly

How are the elderly assessed?

Dementia

The clinical picture

Assessing the patient

The personal dimension

How are people with dementia treated?

Delirium

Mood problems

Anxiety

Delusional disorders and other psychoses

Personality disturbance

Abuse of the elderly

Meeting the needs of the family

CHAPTER 17 Suicide and Deliberate Self-harm

Suicide through history

Defining suicide

Suicide rates

What leads to suicide?

Suicide and mental illness

Assessing the risk of suicide

Treating the suicidal person

Suicide and the bereaved

Preventing suicide

The ethical dilemmas of intervention and prevention

Deliberate self-harm

Treatment and prevention of deliberate self-harm

CHAPTER 18 Drugs and Other Physical Treatments

Principles of drug prescribing for mental illness

Anti-psychotics

Anti-depressants

Tricyclics

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors

Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors

Which anti-depressant and for how long?

Mood stabilisers

Anti-anxiety drugs

Benzodiazepines and related drugs as hypnotics

Healthy sleep habits

Electro-convulsive therapy

Other brain stimulation therapies

Psychosurgery

The potential role of the pharmacist in mental health care

CHAPTER 19 The Psychotherapies

What is psychotherapy?

Factors that unite the therapies

Classifying the psychotherapies

Issues related to classification

APPLYING THE PSYCHOTHERAPIES IN PRACTICE

Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy

The psychoanalytic approach to treatment

Who benefits from the psychoanalytic therapies?

Brief psychodynamic psychotherapy

The existential approach

Cognitive therapy

The behavioural approach

Group psychotherapy.

Long-term out-patient groups

Short-term ward groups

Self-help (or mutual-help) groups

Family therapy

Who benefits from family therapy?

Methods of treatment

Couple therapy

Sex therapy

Supportive psychotherapy

Crisis intervention

Counselling

Researching psychotherapy

CHAPTER 20 Promoting Mental Health

Principles and strategies-general and specific

Some useful general guidelines

Contending with life's stresses

Relaxation techniques

A sense of self and self-esteem

The doctrine of the mean

Family, friends and mental health

Work and mental health

When things go wrong

Detecting change early

People with continuing vulnerability

People with long-term mental problems

Family and friends as caregivers

Self-help (mutual help) organisations

CHAPTER 21 An Ethical Dimension

Ethical aspects of making a diagnosis

Ethical aspects of treatment

Values and psychotherapy

The right to treatment

The right to effective treatment

The right to refuse treatment

Involuntary treatment

A framework to deal with ethical challenges

The role of a code of ethics

A Select Guide to Further Reading

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780522866742

0522866743