Straight Talk about Your Mental Health

by James R. Morrison

Too often, mental health care is postponed due to fears about what treatment might entail. Now Dr. James Morrison, a highly experienced practitioner with a no-nonsense approach, provides up-to-date facts and reliable advice about what might be wrong and what you can do about it. Explaining what really works for a wide range of psychological difficulties, Dr. Morrison gives frank and empathetic answers to all the common questions, plus many you may not even think of

*Why do I have these symptoms and when will they get better?
*How safe are drugs like Prozac--and what about herbal remedies?
*What will I have to go through to find out what's wrong?
*How will I know if I've found a good therapist?
*How can I get the best care when my insurance and finances are limited?
*What can I expect in the months and years ahead?

Whether you feel trapped by depression or driven by anxiety, whether you're worried about an aging parent's memory loss or a spouse's mood swings, Straight Talk gives you the knowledge you need now and anticipates what you'll need in the future. It helps you make well-informed choices about this critical aspect of health and well-being--for yourself and those you love.

Genres: Psychology, Mental Health

324 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2002

Reviews

[Kirsten]

This was slightly basic for me, since I'm already in treatment for my depression, etc., but the author does a great job of explaining how to find treatment, how to evaluate your clinician, and he also dispels a lot of common myths about treatment. The discussion of specific drugs is slightly dated (several of the newer medications are not listed, and not all the information about the drugs he mentions is up-to-date), but it will at least give the reader a sense of what's out there, what kind of side effects to expect in general, and a jumping-off point for discussion with their clinician. I like that he really emphasizes that mental illness both behaves differently and needs to be treated differently in the elderly.