Mental Health: eBooks

What can you really do in 10 minutes? You can make a cup of tea or coffee, walk about 0.6 miles and now, with this book, you can improve your mental health. No matter how busy or stressful your day, with 10-minute steps and quick exercises, you can better understand your experiences and learn how to survive setbacks. The book covers everything from dealing with worry and anxiety and building your confidence, to creating healthy life habits and positive relationships. It includes sections to read, questions to reflect on, video clips to watch and things to try out in your everyday life. Using evidence-based approaches like CBT and mindfulness, it will help you to get the best out of life and become the person you want to be.

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A Wall Street Journal Top 10 Book of 2024 * A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book * One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2024 * A TIME 100 Must-Read Book of 2024 * Named a Best Book of 2024 by the Economist, the New York Post, and Town & Country * The Goodreads Choice Award Nonfiction Book of the Year * Finalist for the PEN Literary Awards A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech--and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood. "With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids." --Shannon Carlin, TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why? In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the "play-based childhood" began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the "phone-based childhood" in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this "great rewiring of childhood" has interfered with children's social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies. Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the "collective action problems" that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood. Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes--communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children--and ourselves--from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.

Almost 80% of autistic people have a co-occurring mental health condition, and this powerful book puts their voices front and centre, showcasing the human experience beyond the medicalised language and diagnoses. This poignant essay collection shines a light on voices that often go unheard in our society. Covering a range of experiences from multiple ages, genders and backgrounds, discussions include trauma, relationships, masking, healthcare, intersectionality and more. The essays are structured along the topics of hurt (personal experiences and how they shaped the contributor), help (the tools and tips which have helped on their personal journeys), and hope (looking forward to the future). At times touching, humorous, and also enraging, this book offers a frank and honest depiction of the challenges autistic people face and the knock-on effect on their mental health. A challenge to change how our society treats and values one another.

How teachers can help combat higher education's mental health crisis. Mental health challenges on college campuses were a huge problem before COVID-19, and now they are even more pronounced. But while much has been written about higher education's mental health crisis, very little research focuses on the role played by those on campus whose influence on student well-being may well be greatest: teachers. Drawing from interviews with students and the scholarship of teaching and learning, this book helps correct the oversight, examining how faculty can--instead of adding to their own significant workloads or duplicating counselors' efforts--combat student stress through adjustments to the work they already do as teachers. Improving Learning and Mental Health in the College Classroom provides practical tips that reduce unnecessary discouragement. It demonstrates how small improvements in teaching can have great impacts in the lives of students with mental health challenges, while simultaneously boosting learning for all students.

Mental health is a political issue, but we often discuss it as a personal one. How is the current mental health crisis connected to capitalism, racism and other social issues? In a different world, how might we transform the ways that we think about mental health, diagnosis and treatment?These are some of the big questions Micha Frazer-Carroll asks as she reveals mental health to be an urgent political concern that needs deeper understanding beyond today's 'awareness-raising' campaigns.Exploring the history of asylums and psychiatry; the relationship between disability justice, queer liberation and mental health; art and creativity; prisons and abolition; and alternative models of care; Mad World is a radical and hopeful antidote to pathologisation, gatekeeping and the policing of imagination."

Collected in a single volume for the first time, the writings in this novel anthology represent more than four decades of perspectives from the American Psychiatric Association's Solomon Carter Fuller Award lectures, named for the first Black psychiatrist in the United States. The chapter authors--Solomon Carter Fuller awardees themselves, psychiatrists building on the work of previous awardees, and other scholar experts--offer a multidisciplinary, cross-sectional examination of both the historical and contemporary environments that inform the Black experience in the United States.These treatises look at the intersection of mental health with topics that include the following: * Public health and public policy* Health care inequities* Racism* Economic well-being* Media* Education Emphasizing the real challenges that Black communities have faced and continue to face, each chapter also offers reasons for perseverance in the face of adversity.Readers will come away with a better understanding of the complexity of the Black experience in America and its impact on mental health, as well as a greater awareness of and appreciation for the legacy and ongoing contributions of Black psychiatric leaders to the field.

This book lays out an intuitive and practical approach to mental health and wellbeing that any school can adopt to transform their mental health support for students. With a focus on providing staff with practical tools on a limited budget, the book helps schools make a real difference to student mental health. It sets out a roadmap for staff to create robust mental health support for students without requiring qualifications in psychology or counselling. It covers key areas including staff training, creating safe spaces for wellbeing and how to harness the support of parents and the local community. It also includes practical advice for addressing concerns such as stress, self-harm and body image. From small, everyday improvements that foster a culture of mental wellbeing to whole school campaigns, this book shows how to embed mental health at the heart of a school's philosophy.

You have the power to lower stress and balance your emotions. Grounded in evidence-based mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), this engaging and empowering workbook will show you how. Are you stressed out or overwhelmed? If so, you're far from alone. More than ever, teens are feeling the stress of academic pressure; high expectations from family, friends, and social media; and an increasingly uncertain future. This workbook will show you how mindful breathing exercises and self-care strategies can help you curb stress and difficult emotions, so you can be your best and reach your goals. In The Mindful Breathing Workbook for Teens, you'll learn breathing skills rooted in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), so you can stay grounded, find calm, and shift out of bad moods quickly. By developing your own internal strategies for managing stress, you will feel more empowered and in control--even when faced with difficult situations beyond your control. It's kind of like having your own stress-busting superpower! As a teen, you're faced with more changes than ever--in both body and mind. The good news is that there are real tools you can use to manage life's changes, challenges, and setbacks. This workbook will be your guide. In these increasingly challenging times, teens need mental health resources more than ever. With more than 1.6 million copies sold worldwide, Instant Help Books for teens are easy to use, proven-effective, and recommended by therapists.

Mind Mechanics is a comprehensive resource to support schools in teaching pupils about mental health. Drawing on a wide range of therapeutic interventions, including CBT, Behavioural Activation and Compassion-Focussed Therapy, it provides activities and lesson plans to empower children with the skills they need to manage their mental health throughout life. The book contains lesson plans, games and activities, assessment tools and information on risk factors and specific issues that might impact children. It also features photocopiable and downloadable worksheets, making the provision of mental health teaching simple. Mind Mechanics can be used flexibly as a full programme as part of the school's Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship curriculum, as a targeted intervention for a group or individual, or as a resource bank of individual activities to use as and when needed.

This handbook presents a thorough examination of the intricate interplay of race, ethnicity, and culture in mental health - historical origins, subsequent transformations, and the discourses generated from past and present mental health and wellness practices. The text demonstrates how socio-cultural identities including race, gender, class, sexual orientation, disability, religion, and age intersect with clinical work in a range of settings. Case vignettes and recommendations for best practice help ground each in a clinical focus, guiding practitioners and educators to actively increase their understanding of non-Western and indigenous healing techniques, as well as their awareness of contemporary mental health theories as a product of Western culture with a particular historical and cultural perspective. The international contributors also discuss ways in which global mental health practices transcend racial, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and political boundaries. The Routledge International Handbook of Race, Culture and Mental Health is an essential resource for students, researchers, and professionals alike as it addresses the complexity of mental health issues from a critical, global perspective.

Recent surveys have found that the vast majority of the public believes that mental illness is real and treatable. And yet, fewer than half of people with diagnosable mental illnesses get treatment in any given year, and of those who do, only half adhere to it. What accounts for the disconnect? According to Daniel Morehead, M.D., unchecked critiques of psychiatry--that it is impossible to define mental illness, that the neurobiology of major mental illnesses is unknown, that patients are overdiagnosed and overmedicated--has led to a public perception that mental health treatment is profoundly flawed. In Science Over Stigma, Dr. Morehead argues that it is time for a full-throated defense of mental health treatment, and that it falls to everyone, from medical and mental health professionals to the general public, to advocate on its behalf. In accessible terms this book sets forth a definition of mental illness, candidly discussing what is known and what remains unknown, and then describes its prevalence, social and physical consequences, and a range of treatments. Each chapter includes advocacy tips that help readers translate the information they've learned into the means for constructive dialogue. By clearly laying out the science behind mental illness and its treatment and vividly illustrating how common it is--affecting patients, their friends and family, and mental health professionals themselves--this volume seeks to turn the recognition of psychiatric illness into practical behavior, destigmatizing both the illness itself and the search for treatment.

Social justice entails equal access to liberties, rights, and opportunities, as well as care for the least advantaged members of society. The paradigm-shifting new book Social (In)Justice and Mental Health addresses the ways in which society's failure to deliver on that humane ideal harms people with mental illness. The editors, at the forefront of the effort to make psychiatry responsive to critiques of institutional racism, argue that in the United States, a perfect storm of unfair and unjust policies and practices, bolstered by deep-seated beliefs about the inferiority of some groups, has led to a small number of people having tremendous advantages, freedoms, and opportunities, while a growing number are denied those liberties and rights. Mental health clinicians bear a special responsibility to be aware of these structural inequities, to question their own biases, to intervene on behalf of patients and their families, and to advocate for mental health equity. To that end, the book provides a framework for thinking about why these inequities exist and persist and provides clinicians with a road map to address these inequalities as they relate to racism, the criminal justice system, and other systems and diagnoses. The book is hands-on, with topics mental health clinicians will find timely and relevant: * The role of social injustice and specific diagnoses and conditions, including substance use disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders, and child trauma, is covered. For example, research has shown that white psychiatrists are more likely to over diagnose schizophrenia in Black patients, and this diagnostic bias may partly account for Black men being involuntarily committed to mental institutions in higher numbers.* The authors advocate for research that prioritizes the needs of participants and communities, rather than the needs of institutions, and focuses on structural, not individual-level, differences.* Accompaniment, an important strategy for infusing social justice into clinical practice, is described and modeled. This process of radical empathy--of trying to minimize power dynamics in clinical relationships by listening, witnessing, and advocating with patients--is critically important in confronting mental health inequities. * The inadequacy of current medical and mental health education and training in countering the powerful forces of social injustice in mental health is discussed in detail. The authors emphasize that change requires adopting an active practice of self-study and self-reflection, and accordingly, a list of self-study resources, consisting of books, documentaries, podcasts, and TED talks, is provided to further the reader's knowledge and awareness. * Of further assistance are the chapter-ending "Questions for Self-Reflection," which challenge mental health clinicians to examine their own attitudes and preconceived ideas about race, poverty, disabilities, and privilege. Social (In)Justice and Mental Health addresses the context in which mental health care is delivered, strategies for raising consciousness in the mental health profession, and ways to improve treatment while redressing injustice. Clinicians owe it to themselves, their patients, and their profession to read--and heed--this important work.

An accessible guide for schools explaining how to implement effective techniques to improve staff mental health. Drawing on case studies from years of experience supporting staff mental health, Amy Sayer introduces inexpensive, practical and realistic strategies that schools can implement to ensure the mental wellbeing of teaching staff. This book provides steps to ensure that self-care and family time do not slip under the radar in the face of increasing pressure and limited resources. From providing adequate staff room facilities to ensuring that teachers can set clear boundaries around weekends and break times, these ideas create and foster a culture of openness around mental health and help teachers to re-discover their love of teaching.

The comprehensive workbook for radically transforming your life--now in a fully revised and updated 40th anniversary edition! If you are depressed, anxious, angry, worried, confused, frustrated, upset, or ashamed, please remember that you are not alone in your struggle with painful feelings and experiences. Everybody experiences emotional distress sometimes. It's normal. But when the pain becomes too strong and too enduring, it's time to take that important first step toward feeling better. This fully revised and updated fifth edition of Thoughts and Feelings outlines twenty evidence-based techniques you can mix and match to create your own personal treatment plan for overcoming a range of mental health concerns--including worry, panic attacks, depression, low self-esteem, anger, and emotional and behavioral challenges of any kind. Customize your plan to address multiple concerns at once, or troubleshoot the thoughts and feelings that bother you most. Used and recommended by the most renowned and respected therapists, this comprehensive mental health workbook offers all of the best psychological tools for quickly regaining mastery over your moods and emotions. It has already helped thousands of readers: Challenge self-sabotaging patterns of thinking Practice relaxation techniques to maintain self-control in stressful situations Change the core beliefs that drive painful emotions Identify and prioritize values for a more focused, fulfilling life    Using proven-effective methods based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness, habit reversal, self-compassion, and more, this book will help you balance your emotions and start feeling better--about yourself, and about the world around you. It's time, finally, to feel fully alive.

It's past time to take Black mental health seriously. It's time to intentionally cultivate resilience, build unshakable confidence, claim your truth, and step into unapologetic joy with this workbook. There is a Black mental health crisis in our world today, and it is tied to disproportionately high rates of chronic illness, poverty, under-education, unacknowledged and untreated trauma, and structural racism. Depression, anxiety, and suicide were increasing before the global pandemic, but have since escalated even further. In order to reclaim a life worth living, you must first reclaim your mind. Whether you suffer yourself, have a loved one who needs help, or are a mental health professional working with the Black community, this workbook will be your lifeline. This workbook--from the author of The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health--offers a step-by-step, interactive journey toward better mental health. You do not have to be at the mercy of everyday circumstances that would otherwise demean you or steal your joy. Grounded in both cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), you'll gain powerful skills to help you effectively manage stress, make self-care a priority, and find lasting emotional balance and well-being in a world still steeped in systemic inequality, discrimination, and microaggressions. With this workbook, you'll discover: What "psychological fortitude" is, and why's it's so important How to set boundaries and say "no" when you are feeling overwhelmed How racism can impact your mental health--and what to do about it How to overcome internalized racism and explore meaningful Blackness   If you're ready to reclaim wholeness, build resilience, and thrive, this powerful workbook will be your guide.  

Young people experience one of the highest rates of mental health problems of any group, but make the least use of the support available to them. To reach young people in distress, we need to understand what this digital generation want from mental health professionals and services. Based on interviews with nearly 400 young people, this book offers a vision of youth mental health issues and services through the eyes of young people themselves. It offers professionals important insights into the meaning of identity and agency for this generation and explores how these issues play out in young people's expectations of mental health support. It shows how, despite young people's immersion in digital technology, genuine and trusting relationships remain a key ingredient in their priorities for support. It considers what access to mental health support means for a generation who have grown up with the immediacy enabled by digital technology. Young people's accounts also provide crucial insights into how they are using digital resources to manage their own mental health - in ways often not appreciated by professionals who design internet interventions. What Young People Want From Mental Health Services offers clear guidance to counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists, youth workers, social workers, service providers and policymakers about how to work with youth and design their services so they are a better match for young people today. It contributes to a growing movement calling for a 'Youth Informed Approach' to mental health to address the needs of young people.