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This
short list of books and Web bibliographies
on mental health is a mix of personal accounts and memoirs,
guides for family members and parents, and scholarly examinations
of mental health policy, the history of mental illness and the
media's treatment of the issues. Recommendations by the National
Mental Health Association (NMHA) and the National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) are indicated. For
more suggested readings, refer to the extensive bibliographies
featured on both organizations' Web sites.
BOOK
LIST
A
Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel
Laureate John Nash (winner of the National Book Critics Circle
Award for Biography), by Sylvia Nasar, re-creates the life of
a mathematical genius who recovered from devastating mental
illness after three decades and was honored with a Nobel Prize
in 1994.
Conquering
Schizophrenia: A Father, His Son and a Medical Breakthrough,
by journalist Peter Wyden, describes his son's 25-year ordeal
with schizophrenia and disabling treatments, from electroshock
therapy to drugs that had serious side effects. He traces the
development of the new drug olanzapine and its positive effects
on his son within the context of the history of treatment research
in schizophrenia.
The
Day the Voices Stopped: A Schizophrenic's Journey From Madness
to Hope, by Ken Steele, with Claire Berman and Stephen M.
Goldfinger, is a posthumous memoir of a leading national activist
for the mentally ill who struggled with schizophrenia for more
than 30 years. He chronicles his recovery and postmedication
triumphs, from organizing voter registration drives in halfway
houses and treatment centers to publishing New York City
Voices: A Consumer Journal for Mental Health Advocacy. Steele
encouraged those with mental illness to share their stories,
and personal accounts from people who have mental illness are
included in the book's final section. (NAMI recommended)
Fountain
House: Portraits of Lives Reclaimed From Mental Illness, by
Mary Flannery and Mark Glickman, with a foreword by E. Fuller
Torrey, M.D., tells the stories of 12 members of Fountain House,
a treatment program for people with severe chronic mental illness.
Each story highlights their challenges as well as the models
they've discovered for living with -- and beyond -- mental illness.
Helping
Someone With Mental Illness, by First Lady Rosalynn Carter,
with Susan K. Golant, offers step-by-step information on what
do after diagnosis, including seeking the best treatment, evaluating
health-care providers, and managing workplace, financial and
legal matters. (NMHA recommended)
"Is It Just a Phase?" How to Tell Common Childhood Phases From
More Serious Problems, by Drs. Henrietta L. Leonard and
Susan Anderson Swedo, answers questions frequently asked by
parents concerned about their children's behavior and mental
well-being. (NAMI recommended)
The
Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America's Mentally Ill,
by Gerald Grob, details America's evolving responses to
the question of society's obligation to those who have mental
illness and how best to meet that obligation.
Mad
in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine and the Enduring Mistreatment
of the Mentally Ill, by Pulitzer-nominated investigative
journalist Robert Whitaker, traces three centuries of "cures"
for mental illness, culled from old patient medical records,
historical accounts and government documents, and argues that
modern treatments are old medicine in new bottles.
Media
Madness: Public Images of Mental Illness, by Otto F. Wahl,
Ph.D., examines media portrayals of mental illness and their
impact on stigma and on people's reluctance to seek treatment.
(NAMI recommended)
On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental
Health System, by Judi Chamberlin, a psychiatric survivor,
was first published in 1978. It makes a case for patient-controlled
services and was a benchmark for the beginnings of the mental
health patients' rights movement in the United States. This
book is out of print so check your local library for a copy.
Out
of the Shadows: Confronting America's Mental Illness Crisis,
by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., a psychiatrist specializing in
schizophrenia, draws on the stories of those with untreated
severe mental illness to make a case for more court-ordered
treatment. (NAMI recommended)
The
Outsider: A Journey Into My Father's Struggle With Madness
(winner of the 2000 Bell of Hope Award), by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer,
chronicles a son's journey to understand the transformation
of his father from an accomplished academic to a disenfranchised
homeless man suffering the drastic effects of paranoid schizophrenia.
(NAMI recommended)
Unclaimed
Children: The Failure of Public Responsibility to Children and
Adolescents in Need of Mental Health Services, by Jane Knitzer,
Ed.D., and Lynn Olson, is an early chronicle (published in 1982)
of the plight of parents trying to access care from the public
mental health system for their children. This book is out of
print so check your local library for a copy.
An
Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison, professor of psychiatry
at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, is a memoir of
Dr. Jamison's three-decade struggle with manic-depression. Her
multiple roles as consumer, professional and family member adds
to the book's wide-reaching appeal. (NAMI recommended)
The
Wisdom Within, by Roger Mills and Elsie Spittle, reveals
discoveries about our natural inner sources of resiliency and
healthy psychological functioning.
Bibliographies
on the Web
Books
Dealing With Children's Mental Health is an online bibliography
of books for both parents and young people, compiled and reviewed
by a child psychiatrist and a high school student.
The
National Empowerment Center Store indexes hard-to-find
audiotapes, books and curriculum written and produced by and
for survivors of mental illness.
A
Review of Recovery Literature, prepared for the National
Technical Assistance Center for State Mental Health Planning
and the National Association for State Mental Health Program
Directors, examines writings on the concept of recovery. Available
in PDF format.
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