How To Rethink Mental Illness

The world of mental illness is typically framed around symptoms and cures, where every client is given a label. In this challenging new book, Professor Bernard Guerin provides a fresh alternative to considering these issues, based in interdisciplinary social sciences and discourse analysis rather than medical studies or cognitive metaphors. A timely and articulate challenge to mainstream approaches, Guerin asks the reader to observe the ecological contexts for behavior rather than diagnose symptoms, to find new ways to understand and help those experiencing mental distress. This book shows the reader: how we attribute ‘mental illness’ to someone’s behavior why we call some forms of suffering ‘mental’ but not others what Western diagnoses look like when you strip away the theory and categories why psychiatry and psychology appeared for the first time at the start of modernity the relationship between capitalism and modern ideas of ‘mental illness’ why it seems that women, the poor and people of Indigenous and non-Western backgrounds have worse ‘mental health’ how we can rethink the ‘hearing of voices’ more ecologically how self-identity has evolved historically how thinking arises from our social contexts rather than from inside our heads. Offering solutions rather than theory to develop a new ‘post-internal’ psychology, How to Rethink Mental Illness will be essential reading for every mental health professional, as well as anyone who has either experienced a mental illness themselves, or helped a friend or family member who has.

The world of mental illness is typically framed around symptoms and cures, where every client is given a label. In this challenging new book, Professor Bernard Guerin provides a fresh alternative to considering these issues, based in interdisciplinary social sciences and discourse analysis rather than medical studies or cognitive metaphors. A timely and articulate challenge to mainstream approaches, Guerin asks the reader to observe the ecological contexts for behavior rather than diagnose symptoms, to find new ways to understand and help those experiencing mental distress. This book shows the reader: how we attribute ‘mental illness’ to someone’s behavior why we call some forms of suffering ‘mental’ but not others what Western diagnoses look like when you strip away the theory and categories why psychiatry and psychology appeared for the first time at the start of modernity the relationship between capitalism and modern ideas of ‘mental illness’ why it seems that women, the poor and people of Indigenous and non-Western backgrounds have worse ‘mental health’ how we can rethink the ‘hearing of voices’ more ecologically how self-identity has evolved historically how thinking arises from our social contexts rather than from inside our heads. Offering solutions rather than theory to develop a new ‘post-internal’ psychology, How to Rethink Mental Illness will be essential reading for every mental health professional, as well as anyone who has either experienced a mental illness themselves, or helped a friend or family member who has.

Improving mental health for all is increasingly important in nursing as more people suffer from mental health issues, ranging from stress through to diagnosed illnesses. It is crucial that all nurses, not just mental health nurses, are aware of mental health problems and the impact these have on patients, families and carers. This book gives a clear overview of mental health in nursing, relevant for all fields of practice. It explains the core features of the mental health nursing field, and explores aspects of mental health that every nurse should understand in order to provide holistic care to their patients.

Developed from the author’s long teaching career, How to Rethink Human Behavior aims to cultivate practical skills in human observation and analysis, rather than offer a catalogue of immutable ‘facts’. It synthesizes key psychological concepts with insights from other disciplines, including sociology, social anthropology, economics, and history. The skills detailed in the book will help readers to observe people in their contexts and to analyze what they observe, in order to make better sense of why people do what they do, say what they say, and think what they think. These methods can also be applied to our own thoughts, talk and actions - not as something we control from ‘within’ but as events constantly being shaped by the idiosyncratic social, cultural, economic and other contexts in which our lives are immersed. Whether teaching, studying, or reading for pleasure, this book will help readers learn: How to think about people with ecological or contextual thinking How your thinking is a conversation with other people How to analyze talk and conversations as social strategies How capitalist economies change how you act, talk and think in 25 ways How living in modern society can be linked to generalized anxiety and depression How to Rethink Human Behavior is important interdisciplinary reading for students and researchers in all fields of social science, and will especially appeal to those interested in mental health. It has also been written for the general reading public who enjoy exploring new ideas and skills in understanding themselves and other people.

In a thought-provoking volume, the author critiques how the human condition has been monetized into the disease of depression and related “disorders” and offers a powerful new approach that updates the best ideas of modern psychology. Original.

This book was the first of its kind to focus on providing mental health nurses with the core knowledge they need.

This new edition of a bestselling, evidence-based textbook provides a comprehensive overview of psychiatric and mental health nursing. Keeping service users and their recovery at the centre of care, the holistic approach will help nurses to gain the tools and understanding required to work in this complex area. Extensively updated for this new edition, the text looks at: Aspects of mental health nursing: covering topics such as ethics, developing therapeutic relationships and supervision. The foundations of mental health nursing: discussing diagnosis, assessment and risk. Caring for those experiencing mental health distress: looking at wide range of troubles including anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and issues around sexuality and gender. Care planning and approaches to therapeutic practice: exploring ideas, pathways and treatments such as recovery, CBT, psychodynamic therapies and psychopharmacology. Services and support for those with mental health distress: covering topics such as collaborative work, involvement of service users and their families and carers, and a range of different mental healthcare settings. Mental health nursing in the twenty-first century: highlighting emerging and future trends including the political landscape, physical health and health promotion, and technological advances. This accessible and comprehensive textbook integrates service user perspectives throughout and includes student-friendly features such as learning outcomes, key points summaries, reflection points and further reading sections. It is an essential resource for all mental health nursing students, as well as an invaluable reference for practising nurses.

Mental health conditions are becoming more prevalent in today’s society and it has been estimated that 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health issue at some point in their lives. The increase in mental health complaints has also affected the volume of calls to 999 in which paramedics are regularly called to address patients’ mental health concerns. The complexities and nuances within mental health means that many paramedics feel underprepared when managing patients who are experiencing mental distress. Mental Health Care in Paramedic Practice is the first guide written specifically for paramedics to support them in understanding a range of different mental health conditions which they may come across during their practice. Not only does the book provide key information on recognising and managing a range of conditions, but it also includes case studies written by paramedics with first-hand experience of managing mental health calls. It also includes a section on legislative changes and policy descriptions as well as interprofessional working. This book is essential for anyone wanting to better understand how to care for patients with mental health concerns within the prehospital setting, including both experienced and aspiring paramedics.