Principled Leadership by Bill Anthony and Kevin Huckshorn

Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders: An Evidence-Based Guide, Ed. by Christine A. Courtois, Julian D. Ford

My Son's Name Was Fred, by Gwill Linderme York Newman

Making a difference: "The Soloist" and Steve Lopez

"Take These Broken Wings"

Reform medicine, say authors

iStock photo Stories about conflicts-of-interest in psychiatry are percolating regularly, and MIWatch readers will not be surprised by Dr. Marcia Angell's review of three books taking aim at doctors, regulatory agencies, academic medical centers and drug companies. "So many reforms would be necessary to restore integrity to clinical research and medical practice," writes the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, "that they cannot be summarized briefly." Angell has written extensively about these issues....

"Another Kind of VALOR"

"A Fight To Be," Ronald Bassman, Ph.D.

Reviewed by Paul Pines* Ronald Bassman's book, A Fight To Be, is a daring and insightful portrait of psychosis and the "mental health" system we have put in place to address"chronic and persistent disorders". The book is a weave of three distinct threads: it is a personal memoir, a clinical meditation and, finally, rising from that dialogue, a call to action. The first thread offers the authority of the author's direct experience as one who was diagnosed with and treated...

"Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation," Charles Barber

by Alison Bateman-House* Charles Barber's latest book, Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation (Pantheon Books), is a passionate, multi-pronged critique of the state of psychiatry in the United States. Barber takes as his starting point his fourteen years working with the mentally ill homeless in New York City. In positions ranging from a counselor to a senior social services administrator, he worked on the streets, in shelters, and in supportive residential programs with clients who were dealing with...

"The Insanity Offense," E. Fuller Torrey

reviewed by Sue E. Estroff* By Any Means Necessary? By No Means Necessary E. Fuller Torrey's most recent book, The Insanity Offense, continues his literary style of provocative, catastrophic language when referring to violent incidents attributable to people with psychiatric disorders. This is not a work in the scholarly convention. It is one activist psychiatrist's impassioned and purposeful argument for a reversion of mental health law, policy, and treatment to the 1950's when involuntary confinement and forced treatment qua medication...

Men Get Depression

“I would literally stare at [my computer] for an hour before doing anything.” . . . “I don’t want to think about anything, I don’t want to move. . . just leave me alone.” . . . “I was verbally abusive to people around me.” . . .“the only emotion that I showed was anger.”. . .“I had a high degree of anxiety; I had a sense of loss of self-worth.” This is how men describe what it feels...

"Canvas:" A family portrait

by Phyllis Vine
"Canvas" is an honest and textured portrayal of an ordinary family managing the uncertainties schizophrenia brings to their lives. Marcia Gay Harden (Mary), Joe Pantoliano (John) and Devon Gearhart (Chris) give stunning performances of living on the margin of Mary's illness and hospitalizations while they face an uncertain future. Writer and director Joseph Greco writes without sensationalizing a painful story.

"Shunned," by Graham Thornicroft

reviewed by Jean Arnold
Anti-stigma activist Jean Arnold reviews a new book about bias and the author's suggestions for how to address it.

"Social Inclusion of People with Mental Illness," by Julian Leff and Richard Warner

by Mark Ragins, MD
A book for "readers who are already inspired and passionate workers, advocates, or searchers in our world of mental illness. You’ll have more meat on your bones," says Ragins.

"Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy," by Kitty Dukakis and Larry Tye

reviewed by Sigurd Ackerman, MD
ECT has been alternately hailed as a medical miracle and denounced as a dehumanizing punishment. For author Kitty Dukakis, despite its risks and the side effects, it was the most successful therapeutic intervention she experienced in decades of fighting depression.

"Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness," by Joshua Wolf Shenk

reviewed by Phyllis Vine
Within the context of a supportive community and watchful friends, part of Abraham Lincoln's courage came from the humility he acquired in his battles with depression and melancholy.