Genres

Psychiatric

Lists

BEST Psychological Book of 2011

2 books — 3 voters

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Mental Illness in Fiction - Before the 21st Century

38 books — 9 voters

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Tuskegee Experiments by Michael V. Uschan

Medical and Psychiatric Scandals

68 books — 6 voters

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Heroes with mental illness

276 books — 156 voters

Best Eating Disorder Books

456 books — 996 voters

The Secret Life of a Weight-Obsessed Woman by Iris Ruth Pastor

A Falência, The English Edition, The Bankruptcy, Translated B... by Júlia Lopes de Almeida

Feminist critiques of psychology and psychiatry

12 books — 6 voters

Featured News & Interviews

New Nonfiction to Read This Women's History Month

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“ Having DID is, for many people, a very lonely thing. If this book reaches some people whose experiences resonate with mine and gives them a sense that they aren't alone, that there is hope, then I will have achieved one of my goals. A sad fact is that people with DID spend an average of almost seven years in the mental health system before being properly diagnosed and receiving the specific help they need. During that repeatedly misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated, simply because clinicians fa Having DID is, for many people, a very lonely thing. If this book reaches some people whose experiences resonate with mine and gives them a sense that they aren't alone, that there is hope, then I will have achieved one of my goals. A sad fact is that people with DID spend an average of almost seven years in the mental health system before being properly diagnosed and receiving the specific help they need. During that repeatedly misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated, simply because clinicians fail to recognize the symptoms. If this book provides practicing and future clinicians certain insight into DID, then I will have accomplished another goal. Clinicians, and all others whose lives are touched by DID, need to grasp the fundamentally illusive nature of memory, because memory, or the lack of it, is an integral component of this condition. Our minds are stock pots which are continuously fed ingredients from many cooks: parents, siblings, relatives, neighbors, teachers, schoolmates, strangers, acquaintances, radio, television, movies, and books. These are the fixings of learning and memory, which are stirred with a spoon that changes form over time as it is shaped by our experiences. In this incredibly amorphous neurological stew, it is impossible for all memories to be exact. But even as we accept the complex of impressionistic nature of memory, it is equally essential to recognize that people who experience persistent and intrusive memories that disrupt their sense of well-being and ability to function, have some real basis distress, regardless of the degree of clarity or feasibility of their recollections. We must understand that those who experience abuse as children, and particularly those who experience incest, almost invariably suffer from a profound sense of guilt and shame that is not meliorated merely by unearthing memories or focusing on the content of traumatic material. It is not enough to just remember. Nor is achieving a sense of wholeness and peace necessarily accomplished by either placing blame on others or by forgiving those we perceive as having wronged us. It is achieved through understanding, acceptance, and reinvention of the self. ...more ”
― Cameron West, First Person Plural: My Life as a Multiple

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