Search

The article reviews the book "The Paper Office: Forms, Guidelines, and Resources to Make Your Practice Work Ethically, Legally, and Profitably," Fourth edition, by Edward L. Zuckerman.

Reviews the book "Social Work in Mental Health: Trends and Issues," edited by Uri Aviram.

The article provides information on the book "Community Support System and Mental Health: Practice, Policy, and Research," edited by David E. Blegel and Arthur J. Naparstek. This is a collection of nineteen papers originally prepared for two conferences in 1980. The major premise underlying these studies is that since the mental health needs in the U.S. cannot be met by professionals alone, and since government agencies and programs are limited and inadequate for meeting those needs, people will have to help themselves, primarily through "community support systems." The distribution of the papers have been made in four parts: theory and research about community support systems, examples of programmatic interventions which utilize community support systems, analyses of the relationships between professionals and community support systems, and the policy implications of community support systems. The theoretical papers reflect the conceptual confusion which generally troubles the study of community support systems. The editors argue in their introductory chapter that a "catchments" area is not a community and that the neighborhood is the proper focus for studying community support systems. Other papers circumvent the issue by focusing on self-help and mutual support groups, as kinds of communities, without exploring the relationships between individuals who share specific common interest and others who are related to them, regardless of their physical or social propinquity.

The article reviews the book "Towards a Whole Society: Collected Papers on Aspects of Mental Health," edited by Ruth Terrington.

Reviews the book "I Am Not Your Victim," by B. Sipe and E.J. Hall.

Many people use religious beliefs and practices to cope with stressful life events and derive peace of mind and purpose in life. The goal of this paper was to systematically review the recent psychological literature to assess the role of religion in mental health outcomes. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using medical and psychological databases on the relationship between religiosity and mental health. Seventy-four articles in the English and Arabic languages published between January 2000 and March 2012 were chosen. Despite the controversial relationship between religion and psychiatry, psychology, and medical care, there has been an increasing interest in the role which spirituality and religion play in mental health. The findings of past research showed that religion could play an important role in many situations, as religious convictions and rules influence the believer's life and health care. Most of the past literature in this area reported that there is a significant connection between religious beliefs and practices and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the book "HIV: Issues With Mental Health and Illness," edited by Michael B. Blank and Marlene M. Eisenberg.

This article presents reviews of books about mental health including "Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice," by M.J. Gonzalez & G. Gonzalez-Ramos, "Mental Disorders in the Social Environment: Critical Perspectives," by S.A. Kirk,"Evidence-Based Mental Health Practice: A Textbook Garrick," by R.E. Drake, M.R. Merrens, & D.W. Lynde "Trauma Treatment Techniques: Innovative Trends," by J. Garrick & M.B. Williams, " Journey Beyond Diagnosis: Support During and After Illness for Survivors and Those Who Love and Care for Them," G. Pacini.

Reviews the book "Location and Stigma: Contemporary Perspectives on Mental Health and Mental Health Care," by Christopher J. Smith and John S. Giggs.

The article reviews the book "Mental Health and the Economy," edited by Louis A. Ferman and Jeanne P. Gordus.

Reviews the book "Interrelations Between the Social Environment and Psychiatric Disorders," edited by Frank G. Boudreau and Jean Downes.

Reviews the book 'Promotion of Mental Health,' vol. 6, edited by Dennis R. Trent and Colin A. Reed.

Reviews the book "Emergency and Disaster Management: A Mental Health Source Book," H.J. Parad, H.L.P. Reskin and L.G. Parad.

A review of the book "Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories that Smash Mental Health Stereotypes," edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter and Rocky Callen, is presented.

This paper discusses the Taiwanese woman poet Ye Hong 葉紅's poems about death, attempting to articulate her perspective on death and what it means in her poetry. Based on her poetry linking psychiatric treatment with death writing, this paper further explains how the poet employs the imagery of death and poetry writing as an escape from life crisis. In the case of Ye Hong, literature as psychiatric treatment did serve to soothe her melancholia and prevent her from losing her capability of speaking. At the same time, she also attempted to save herself by writing about death, that is, by sublimating the death drive by incessantly refashioning the signs of death in her poems. Ye’s death, however, indicates the impossibility of redemption through writing: poetry can never be a substitute for medical treatment. Nevertheless, considering the eternal value of literary work, we may conclude that literature is Ye’s afterlife, through which readers can overcome her physical death by returning again and again to her narrative of death before she died. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the confluence of culture and mental health has grown dramatically in the past three decades. However, this line of research has focused almost entirely on western populations and largely neglected people from other regions. Western conceptualizations of positive functioning cannot be generalized to the Muslim populations before indigenous investigations are undertaken. This paper looks at the Muslim understanding of a good life. A brief review of the conceptualizations of happiness in the West is presented first. Next, a selection of Islamic teachings relevant to the concept of happiness is compared and contrasted with scholarship originating from the West. It is hoped that this theoretical analysis will stimulate more informed empirical research among Muslim psychologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cybersightings is a regular feature in "Cyberpsychology & Behavior," (CP&B) with the purpose of posting information regarding the "goings-on" in the Mental Health and Internet/Multimedia/Virtual Reality Technology arena. The content focuses on useful websites, listservers, relevant conferences, book reviews, and general announcements of interest to researchers and clinicians in this evolving field. Some of the websited listed are: www.cyber.rdg.ac.uk/icdvrat; http://www.iwvr.org; http://www.vrtechnology.org. For upcoming meetings in the field one can log on to the following sites: http://www.e-therapy.info; http://www.vr2004.org/.

A review of the book "A Christian's Guide to Mental Illness: Answers to 30 Common Questions," by David Murray and Tom Karel, is presented.

Journals reviewed in this article: Attachment and Human Development (2001) p.193 Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2001, 2002) p.194 Autism (2001) p.195 Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2001) p.196 British Journal of Psychiatry (2001, 2002) p.196 Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2002) p.198 Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology (2002) Vol. 30 p.199. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews the book "Economics and Mental Health," edited by Richard G. Frank and Willard G. Manning.

Reviews the book "Mental Health and the Lower Social Classes," edited by Kent S. Miller and Charles M. Grigo.

The article reviews the book "Winnicott's Children," edited by Ann Horn and Monica Lanyado.

Reviews the book 'Serious Mental Health Problems in the Community: Policy, Practice and Research,' edited by Charlie Brooker and Julie Repper.

The article reviews the book "A Map of Mental States," by John H. Clark.

Reviews the book "New Goals for Old Age," edited by George Lawton.