Breaking the Silence: Mental Health Professionals Disclose Their Personal and Family Experiences of Mental Illness

Breaking the Silence: Mental Health Professionals Disclose Their Personal and Family Experiences of Mental Illness
Stephen P. Hinshaw | 2008-01-08 00:00:00 | Oxford University Press, USA | 384 | Mental Health
People with mental illness are far too often subjected to discrimination and unfair treatment. It is particularly unfortunate that much of this stigmatization comes from the very people they depend upon for help--those in the mental health professions. Too many practitioners and scientists maintain "us-versus-them" attitudes and are extremely reluctant to admit any personal or family experiences of mental illness. This culture of concealment must change, and this book will change it. A groundbreaking collection of moving and inspiring stories of serious mental disorder from trainees, clinicians, and scientists in the mental-health professionals, Breaking the Silence is the first book to reveal the deep commonalities between patients and professionals. With an unprecedented level of honesty and disclosure, the contributors tell their own and their families' stories of mental disorder. Renowned psychologist Steve Hinshaw--who previously disclosed his own family's struggles with misdiagnosed bipolar disorder and who has synthesized the world literature on the stigma of mental illness--integrates, synthesizes, and provides perspective on these revealing stories. As they relate their personal and family histories, the contributors also describe the serious impairments that can accrue, the strength and courage that can be derived, and the influence these experiences have had on their own decisions to enter the mental health field. Moving in its honesty, frank in its disclosures, and sensitive in its portrayals, Breaking the Silence will be a beacon for those in the mental health professions, trainees across the many related fields, family members, and anyone who is dealing with mental illness. Its stark stories of pain, denial, and impairment, along with its clear messages of hope, courage, and resilience, will inspire for years to come.
Reviews
This is a fantastic book. Dr. Borelli's chapter on sibling mental illness is especially noteworthy. It is (at once) gripping, frightening, and illuminating. It is also extraordinarily brave.

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Perceptual Organization in Vision: Behavioral and Neural Perspectives (Carnegie Mellon Symposia on Cognition Series)

Perceptual Organization in Vision: Behavioral and Neural Perspectives (Carnegie Mellon Symposia on Cognition Series)
Ruth Kimchi,Marlene Behrmann,Carl R. Olson | 2003-07-01 00:00:00 | Psychology Press | 488 | Mental Health
Understanding visual perceptual organization remains a challenge for vision science. Perceptual Organization in Vision: Behavioral and Neural Perspectives explores ideas emanating from behavioral, developmental, neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and computational approaches to the problem of perceptual organization. The growing body of research on perceptual organization has converged on a number of critical issues, most of which are addressed in this volume. These include issues concerning the nature and order of organizational processes, the stimulus factors that engage the mechanisms of organization, the developmental stage at which the mechanisms of organization are available, the role of past experience and learning in organization, the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual organization, and the relations between perceptual organization and other cognitive processes, in particular, object recognition and visual attention. Divided into four parts, the book is designed not only to detail the current state of the art in the field but also to promote an interdisciplinary approach to the study of perceptual organization. Part I presents an overview of the problem of perceptual organization, different frameworks for understanding perceptual organization, and a state-of-the-art summary of the domain. Part II details which organizational processes are hardwired in the perceptual system, which are acquired through experience, and how object perception relates to other aspects of cognition. Part III describes various attempts to understand the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual organization using two different approaches--neurophysiological and neuropsychological. Part IV offers a computational approach to the problem. This book is intended for cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, computational vision scientists, and developmental psychologists.


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Clinical Assessment of Dangerousness: Empirical Contributions

Clinical Assessment of Dangerousness: Empirical Contributions
Georges-Franck Pinard,Linda Pagani | 2000-11-13 00:00:00 | Cambridge University Press | 336 | Mental Health
Unrealistic public policies have increasingly concerned clinicians who fear being held responsible for their decisions in a legal climate that expects them to accurately predict the future. Clinical Assessment of Dangerousness provides a forum in which a group of internationally recognized scholars present the major conceptual issues and themes in their areas of violence research. Each chapter includes an issue-based essay that makes the research findings clinically relevant for assessment and prediction of violence. This book provides a reference that outlines key information for conducting more effective risk assessments with different populations.

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