Dr. Lucy Foulkes, the author, herself a sufferer with anxiety and depression, gives a clear description of many of the problems plaguing the identification and treatment of mental illness today. There are more effective treatments for mood disorders than there were in the past, but there is also much news about the subject. The main stream media is often more sensationalist than helpful in discussing treatment options.
Dr. Foulkes simplifies many of the concepts and deals with a wide variety of topics from social media in both good and bad aspects to the way we talk about mental health symptoms and how it can help people to be more accepting. However, it can create an environment where people not experiencing actual medical symptoms can get caught up in diagnosis and treatment whether they need it or not. While effective in severe cases, the treatments also come with side effects that can be devastating.
I found this a very readable book on a somewhat difficult and controversial subject. It provides good technical information. It also provides a perspective on both individual mental health problems and treatments and gives a perspective on the societal problems of mental health identification and treatment.
I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.
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