Psychiatrist Books Pdf
Rosalee Cobham
Kay Redfield Jamison's memoir is a classic in the genre of mental health narratives, remarkable for its incredible honesty and self-disclosure about what it's like to have bipolar disorder, and more generally, what it's like to suffer from a disease of the mind. An underrated aspect of this book is the beautiful writing. Jamison recounts her many interests in her life, including academic interests and creative writing, and those interests blend beautifully in this memoir, making it a lovely read that is at times heartbreaking but also relentlessly hopeful.
This memoir is one that has endured and, in many ways, helped begin cultural conversations about the rights and autonomy of modern psychiatric patients. Elyn Saks chronicles her lived experience with schizophrenia while offering social commentary on how medicine is practiced, how she was and is treated by doctors and friends, and in so doing, offers a portrait of what it is like to live with and receive treatment for serious mental illness.
Dr. Allen Frances chaired the DSM-IV committee, and in the subsequent years has become a vocal proponent of Psychiatry self-imposing limits to prevent diagnostic inflation. In this book, he summarizes the history of Psychiatry and the diagnosis of mental illness, discusses the process by which the DSM became what it is now, and then lays out several arguments against specifics of DSM-5, seeking to preserve "normal" by refusing to pathologize human experience. Even if you don't agree with some of his conclusions (which are wide in scope), the book lays a good foundation for new psychiatrists about how we arrived, diagnostically, where we are today.
Living in the two worlds of literature and Child Psychiatry for many years, Dr. Robert Coles spent time as a middle-school teacher, a researcher, a professor, a child psychiatrist, and a writer, authoring more than 50 books during his long career. Coles' insights are valuable and are drawn from an impressive breadth of sources, and "The Call of Stories" uses many literary voices and personal vignettes to share insights about working as an academic psychiatrist and directly with children. The power of narrative to shape and heal holds much merit in Psychiatry, in no small part thanks to Dr. Coles, and this book is a good introduction to his work.
No list of reading for aspiring psychiatrists would be complete without the father of modern Psychiatry, Sigmund Freud. Although much of psychology and Psychiatry in the 20th century focused on how and where Freud got things wrong, there is no denying that his ideas and suggestions on everything from diagnosis, to therapy, to social consequences of mental illness, continue to shape and direct how our culture views psychiatrists. This book collects some of his better ideas on the topic he remains best-known for: psychoanalytic theory.
Every book by Oliver Sacks I have read has been remarkable, and I could have easily recommended others. I have chosen "Hallucinations" because it directly addresses the otherwise elusive subject of perceptual disturbances. Though Sacks was a neurologist, he focuses very little on etiology or pathophysiology but rather on the patient experience, and his descriptions remain some of the most compassionate and articulate in all of medical writing. His collected stories in this book offer clarity and insights on the experience of all types of hallucinations.
Michael Pollan is most known for his books and essays about food, which perhaps makes it fitting that this book started as an inquiry into mushrooms, specifically magic mushrooms. What came of that interest ended up as this book, a fairly comprehensive look at the current research into psychedelic and hallucinogenic substances. Pollan weaves his own self-doubts and questions and ultimately personal experiences into a narrative about the rise and fall of LSD, psilocybin, DMT, and more in the public eye, and brings us to a place where these illegal drugs are being considered the new frontier in Psychiatry.
Damion Searls writes in the afterword to this book that when he first became interested in the Rorschach test, he never expected how deeply it would draw him in. We should be grateful that it did; this book is a wonderful piece of nonfiction about Dr. Rorschach's life and work, the creation of the famous inkblot test, and a historical tracing of what has become of the test and theories around it in subsequent years. Although the Rorschach is interesting in its own right, and Searls tells the story masterfully, this book is valuable for Psychiatry residents because it also provides a backdrop and historical context for many important figures and events in the history of psychology and Psychiatry.
Objectives:
- Explain misconceptions regarding mental illness and criminality.Discuss the evidence that describes the frequency of untoward criminal events in psychiatric patients.Discuss the negative consequence of misconceptions regarding persons with mental illness and criminal violence.Outline psychiatric illness and criminality and discuss the role of the interprofessional team in evaluating patients with this condition.
The relationship between psychiatric illness and criminality has been the topic of intense debate and scrutiny in the recent past in light of multiple mass shootings in the United States. While the renewed focus and media attention on the importance of mental health in the aftermath of such tragedies is a positive development, the relationship between mental illness and criminality is too often conflated.
An essential element that plays into the false equivocation of psychiatric illness and criminality is the incorrect labeling of all criminals as persons with mental illness. Society at large views behavior and conduct problems as a symptom of a psychological disorder, which has led to the false public perception that equates criminality with psychiatric illness. The high levels of reported mental illness in jail and prison populations are primarily due to false labeling of criminals as having a psychiatric illness. These figures are not always based on thorough medical and psychiatric evaluation and diagnosis, but rather as a result of social factors.[3]
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is one such diagnosis that is widely and arbitrarily applied to many in the prison populations. As a result, there is a debate as to whether ASPD is even a psychiatric illness or just a societal moral judgment. The label is increasingly used to paint criminals as victims of psychiatric illness.[4] Thus, it is imperative for clinicians to ensure that diagnoses are applied only when characteristic traits are extant, to not let criminals use the cover of psychiatric diagnoses to evade criminal punishment.
People with mental illness are arrested and sent to prison in disproportionate numbers,[5] often due to a lack of awareness and resources in handling these individuals. The police often arrest these individuals for petty crimes such as jaywalking or wandering behavior as a preventive law and order measure.[5] According to one study, 12 percent of adult psychiatric patients receiving treatment in the San Diego County health system had prior incarcerations, while 28 percent of Connecticut residents treated for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder had been arrested or detained.
The closure of state psychiatric hospitals which began with the deinstitutionalization drive in 1960 forced many psychiatric patients on the streets, forced to fend for themselves.[6] As a result, these patients came into contact with the police and the courts more often. The situation is exacerbated by a lack of training and staffing in the court system, potentially accounting for persons with mental illness comprising an ever-larger fraction of the jail and prison population. Many of the symptoms of psychiatric illnesses are behaviors considered antisocial or criminal such as wandering behavior.[7] The result has been the false perception of a causal relationship between psychiatric illness and criminality.
The most important and independent risk factor for criminality and violence among individuals with mental illness is a long-term substance use disorder.[10] In patients with a major psychiatric illness, comorbid substance use disorder, there is a four-fold increase in the risk of committing a crime or violence.[11] Studies have shown that the rise in violent crime committed by individuals with mental illness, may entirely be accounted for with a history of alcohol and/or drug use.[11]
Many individuals with mental illness face an uphill battle when trying to access mental health treatment. Many individuals do not receive the appropriate and timely treatment needed. Budget overruns and cuts in funding for public health and mental health in many cities further put people with mental illness in situations where they are involved in criminal activity. Further complicating the picture is the lack of mental health treatment facilities. Despite greater awareness and effort to increase access to mental health treatment facilities, mental hospital beds per capita in the U.S. are lower than they have been since the 1850s.
A far-sighted national mental health policy with expanded availability and access to treatment, while costly in the short run, could be a cost-effective and sensible approach. By some estimates, a ninety-day treatment in a mental hospital might prevent the 10-year imprisonment of an individual with mental illness. Expanded availability and access to mental health treatment would provide significant savings to society and crime victims. More importantly, it would improve a person with mental illness' quality of life and transform these individuals into productive members of society.
The link between psychiatric illness and criminality is complex and has profound societal implications. There is a great need for in-depth research and imaginative solutions for access and availability to mental health treatment. Currently, there is scant evidence to suggest that mental illness can independently predict criminal behavior. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that shows that persons with mental illness are far more likely to be the victim of violent crime rather than the perpetrator.
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