Mental Illness Recovery

Richard Carlson Jr. was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 21 years of age. His illness first manifested when he was an early adolescent. Modern psychiatry greatly failed Richard for over a decade. Then, after an incident involving the police, he truly understood that his diagnosis was real, and finally began the long process of recovery. Over 10 years later, his life is greatly improved. In the course of his treatment, Richard also recovered from depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and lethargy.

With heart-racing urgency and unflinching honesty, Jenkins takes you inside the grips of addiction and the desperate decisions it breeds. She is a born storyteller who lived an incredible story, from blackmail by an ex-boyfriend to a soul-shattering deal with a drug dealer, and her telling brims with suspense and unexpected wit. But the true surprise is her path to recovery. Tiffany breaks through the stigma and silence to offer hope and inspiration to anyone battling the disease - whether it’s a loved one or themselves.

Alfredo Zotti, a professional musician and bipolar survivor with a university degree in social anthropology and three years study of psychology, provides an introduction to music theory with specific case studies of applications for Alzheimer's, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, and other issues.

Lauren Windas is one of the estimated 250,000 people suffering with CFS in the UK. Whilst at university in 2012, she fell ill with a viral infection and was later diagnosed with CFS. Since then she has devoted herself to reclaiming her health and being able to live a full life, drawing on the knowledge of experts to help manage her often mysterious and hard-to-manage condition. In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lauren recounts the highs and lows of her own health journey and experiences,.

Are we all a little crazy? Roughly fifteen percent of the population will have a psychotic experience, in which they lose contact with reality. Yet we often struggle to understand and talk about psychosis. Interactions between people build on the stories they tell each other-stories about the past, about who they are or what they want. In psychosis we can no longer rely on these stories, this shared language. So how should we communicate with someone experiencing reality in a radically different way than we are?

If you have a family member who suffers from mental illness, but refuses to seek treatment, you may feel like you're caught in a trap. If you try making life easier for your loved one, you wind up perpetuating dependency and entitlement. If you push for treatment, you are met with resistance or outright animosity. And when you reach out to professionals for help, you are told that nothing can be done unless your family member is ready to change. So, how can you escape the "family trap?"

Can you really cure chronic pain without drugs, surgery, or therapy? Surprisingly, often the answer is yes. While chronic pain can have a physical cause, this book, written by a leading UK physiotherapist and chronic pain specialist, reveals how very real, even debilitating, pain can frequently be caused by our brain in response to repressed or avoided emotions as a result of current and even past experiences. This process is at the root of many common complaints.

Patrick J. Kennedy, the former congressman and youngest child of Senator Ted Kennedy, details his personal and political battle with mental illness and addiction, exploring mental health care's history in the country alongside his and every family's private struggles. A Common Struggle weaves together Kennedy's private and professional narratives, echoing Kennedy's philosophy that for him, the personal is political and the political personal.

Growing up the good girl in an Irish American family full of drinkers and terrible sleepers, Kathleen Frazier was 12 when her seemingly innocent sleepwalking turned dangerous. Over the next few years, she was a popular A+ student by day, the star of her high school musical. At night she both longed for and dreaded sleep. Frazier moved to Manhattan in the 1980s, hoping for a life in the theater but getting a run of sleepwalking performances instead.

The SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment) program addresses three key processes that can be derailed by developmental trauma—somatic regulation, trauma processing, and attachment-building—and uses movement and sensation to target the neurological structures that support emotional and behavioral regulation.

From Hell to Hope: A Memoir of Addiction and Mental Illness takes you on a visceral journey with Kate, from the confusion of her teenage years to the fragile beauty of motherhood. Witness her battle with addiction and bipolar disorder, the desperate lows that threatened to consume her, and the flickering moments of hope that fueled her fight.

If you’re the family member of an addict, you may feel confused, guilty, and scared of doing the wrong thing. And when you don’t know how to help, you may find yourself in a codependent role. Addict in the House offers a pragmatic, step-by-step guide to dealing with a loved one’s addiction, from accepting the reality of the disease to surviving what may be repeated cycles of recovery and relapse. You’ll learn how to encourage your addicted loved one to get help without forcing it and finally find the strength to let go of codependence.

You Are Not Alone is an authoritative yet compassionate guide to managing mental health challenges. The book will seek to answer the questions individuals have from their first recognition that something is wrong, through diagnosis and treatment, and into the process of building and sustaining meaningful lives in recovery. Through personal stories and anecdotes, You Are Not Alone will also address the feelings of isolation and shame that many family members face as they watch their loved ones struggle.

Miriam tried for most of her life to hide her mental illness. She hoped that if she pretended it didn't exist, nobody else would notice it either. That didn't happen. Unexplainable rage attacks, persistent intrusive thoughts and a recurring overwhelming despair are difficult to hide. Working as an x-ray technologist through Covid-19 contributed to her declining mental health. In a desperate attempt to numb the pain and cheer herself up she reached for what society endorses as the ultimate relaxant: wine.

Six months after the fall of The Program, ex-handler Michael Realm is struggling with his guilt. After all, he was instrumental in erasing the memories of several patients - including one he claimed to love. With a lifetime of regret stretched before him, Realm vows to set things right.

Childhood trauma, mental illness, addiction, and incarceration are far too common in the US today. Recovery from even one of these issues is challenging, yet many people live with the stark reality of more than one of these circumstances every day. Our systems of care offer some help, but sometimes even the best programs don't yield lasting results. What does a person do when medication, therapy, drug treatment, and support groups are ultimately ineffective for them?

There is a lot that you can do to free yourself from the pangs of long COVID. You can take back your life and regain your control over it. You might be wondering how, but that is why this book was written - to guide you on how to regain control over the physical, emotional, and psychological aspects of your life after a COVID-19 illness.

You survived a stroke, but now you’re dealing with the painful uncertainty, anxiety, and depression left in its wake. You’re ready to take control and take back your mental health—you just need a little help. You never had this level of anxiety or depression before, but your stroke changed everything. That was my story, too. Until I reached my breaking point and had to get help.

Simple, imaginative activities and expressive therapies designed for caregivers to engage and connect with people living with dementia. Finding the creativity in the journey through dementia is a challenge millions of people face. One in three Americans knows someone with the disease. This practical book offers caregivers hands-on ideas for meaningful, creative activities they can do with their patients, family members, or friends who have dementia.