Substantially revised to include a wealth of new material, the second edition of this highly acclaimed work provides a concise, coherent introduction that brings structure to an increasingly fragmented and amorphous discipline. Paul R. McHugh and Phillip R. Slavney offer an approach that emphasizes psychiatry's unifying concepts while accommodating its diversity. Recognizing that there may never be a single, all-encompassing theory, the book distills psychiatric practice into four explanatory methods: diseases, dimensions of personality, goal-directed behaviors, and life stories. These perspectives, argue the authors, underlie the principles and practice of all psychiatry. With an understanding of these fundamental methods, readers will be equipped to organize and evaluate psychiatric information and to develop a confident approach to practice and research.

The Perspectives approach to psychiatry focuses on four aspects of psychiatric practice and research: disease, dimensional, behavior, and lifestory. In Systematic Psychiatric Evaluation, Drs. Margaret S. Chisolm and Constantine G. Lyketsos underscore the benefits of this approach, showing how it improves clinicians' abilities to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients. Drs. Chisolm and Lyketsos use increasingly complex case histories to help the mental health provider evaluate patients demonstrating symptoms of bipolar disorder, psychosis, suicidal ideation, depression, eating disorders, and cutting, among other conditions. The book also includes an exercise that simulates the Perspectives approach side by side with traditional methods, revealing the advantages of a method that engages not one but four points of view. Featuring a foreword by Drs. Paul R. McHugh and Phillip R. Slavney, the originators of the Perspectives approach, this innovative book will be used in psychiatric training programs as well as by practicing mental health clinicians. -- Arnold E. Andersen, M.D., The University of Iowa College of Medicine

In this work, John Z. Sadler examines the nature and significance for practice of the value-content of psychiatric diagnostic classification.

In Women in Psychiatry, 21 accomplished women psychiatrists in private practice, teaching institutions, hospitals, public health treatment programs, and leadership positions reveal both the challenges and rewards of being in a wide array of professional positions. The stories are heartfelt and personal as well as professional accounts of obstacles overcome and milestones achieved. In a field once completely dominated by men, nearly one-third of physicians who identified themselves as practicing psychiatry in the U.S. were women, and the diversity of their approaches to the practice of psychiatry is encouragingly illustrated in this book. Women in Psychiatry clearly demonstrates where an interest in science or medicine can lead when combined with determination, guidance, experience, mentoring, perseverance, and organizational support. The featured women represent diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, positions, career pathways, and accomplishments. All the authors share lessons learned and provide recommendations on what they found helpful in achieving their goals of personal and professional fulfillment. These chapters present many common themes among women professionals both within and outside of psychiatry, including handling pregnancy and motherhood while building a career, the potential strain between women and men in the field, and some of the income and leadership role inequities that still exist. Features and benefits of Women in Psychiatry include: Insights into career paths through descriptions of pivotal events and decisions that shaped their careers as scientists. Perspectives and advice on how to balance personal and professional responsibilities, both in training and in practice. Illustrations of the role played by cultural and linguistic background, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, subspecialty, place of employment, and work setting. The importance of mentorship throughout the process, first as a recipient and ultimately as a mentor to other women entering the field. Strategies these authors used to accomplish goals and the various styles of leadership that helped them reach those goals. The historical context for understanding that until recent decades, despite irrefutable evidence that women in the biomedical professions are capable, there were few in most fields with the exception of nursing, dental hygiene, and elementary science teaching. Women in Psychiatry is the ideal book for women who are considering a career in psychiatry or other areas of medicine. It is also a book for partners and spouses of women in medicine and psychiatry. It is an inspirational and educational document that women and men, whether in medicine or other, nonrelated careers, can value and appreciate through the recounting of personal and professional experiences that made a difference.

For most of us the words madness and psychosis conjure up fear and images of violence. Using short stories, the authors consider complex philosphical issues from a fresh perspective. The current debates about mental health policy and practice are placed into their historical and cultural contexts.

This book is a concise introduction to the growing field of philosophy of psychiatry. Divided into the three main aspects of psychiatric clinical judgement, values, meanings and facts, it examines the key debates about mental health care, and the philosophical ideas and tools needed to assess those debates.

It is only in the past 20 years that the concept of 'recovery' from mental health has been more widely considered and researched. Before then, it was generally considered that 'stability' was the best that anyone suffering from a mental disorder could hope for. But now it is recognised that, throughout their mental illness, many patients develop new beliefs, feelings, values, attitudes, and ways of dealing with their disorder. The notion of recovery from mental illness is thus rapidly being accepted and is inserting more hope into mainstream psychiatry and other parts of the mental health care system around the world. Yet, in spite of conceptual and other challenges that this notion raises, including a variety of interpretations, there is scarcely any systematic philosophical discussion of it. This book is unique in addressing philosophical issues - including conceptual challenges and opportunities - raised by the notion of recovery of people with mental illness. Such recovery - particularly in relation to serious mental illness such as schizophrenia - is often not about cure and can mean different things to different people. For example, it can mean symptom alleviation, ability to work, or the striving toward mental well-being (with or without symptoms). The book addresses these different meanings and their philosophical grounds, bringing to the fore perspectives of people with mental illness and their families as well as perspectives of philosophers, mental health care providers and researchers, among others. The important new work will contribute to further research, reflective practice and policy making in relation to the recovery of people with mental illness.It is essential reading for philosophers of health, psychiatrists, and other mental care providers, as well as policy makers.

'Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience' is a philosophical analysis of the study of psychpathology, considering how cognitive neuroscience has been applied in psychiatry. The text examines many neuroscientific methods, such as neuroimaging, and a variety of psychiatric disorders, including depression, and schizophrenia.

In this edited volume a group of leading thinkers in psychiatry, psychology, and philosophy offer alternative perspectives that address both the scientific and clinical aspects of psychiatric validation, emphasizing throughout their philosophical and historical considerations.