Mental disorders and you. Second Ed.2021. A. Rukadikar and M. P. Rukadikar
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Mental health and mental disorders are often not given enough attention by the general public even if it poses a significant burden to society. There are various reasons for this, stigma, poor awareness, and understanding of mental disorders to name a few. The poor mental health of an individual or to a larger extent poor mental health of the community leads to significant loss to humanity. Patients and their families keep mental health problems hidden, and even when expressed to the outer world, proper help is not sought, and when it is sought it is either inappropriate or inadequate. There exists a major gap between the availability of advanced scientific knowledge that facilitates understanding of mental health and the public perspective of mental health and mental disorders. This gap leads to a delay in seeking treatment, non-adherence to therapy, and poor outcomes. Therefore, the book ‘Mental Disorders and YOU,’ which provides information related to mental illnesses is a welcome addition to the resource books available for the general public. The book has a total of 26 chapters, starting from a basic introduction to mental health to individual disorders and at the end more specialized chapters. The book begins with an introduction, the aim of the book, and a chapter on how to use this book. Both authors have ensured up-to-date knowledge of every disorder and that too in simple language avoiding multiple scientific jargon. The dedicated chapters include mood disorders, psychotic disorders, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, eating disorders, sleep disorders, sexual disorders, personality disorders, childhood and developmental disorders, pregnancy and peripartum mental disorders, addiction, impulse control disorders, and available treatment modalities. The current edition of the book highlights recent advances in the field of mental health in India. It has separate chapters on Mental Health Care Act 2017 and Rehabilitation in Psychiatry. It also takes into account the latest versions of the International Classification of Diseases - ICD 11 and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM 5. The authors emphasize that the chapters should be read in order from start to finish for a thorough understanding of the subject. Each chapter has patients’ case histories in their verbatim to get an idea about how patients with mental disorders present. This makes the book interesting for the reader and the reader gets the immersive experience. Classification of disorders, their prevalence, variation in presentations, and treatment modalities are explained lucidly. This book presents readers with an overview of all the important aspects of particular mental disorders. The Book purposefully avoids the complicated language of neurobiology and neurochemistry but at the same time highlights the importance of various neuronal pathways, neurotransmitters, and gene-environment interactions encompassing psychosocial domains. Because of this, this book becomes a ready reference book for patients, caregivers, and the general public alike. Also, relatively uncommon disorders like factitious disorders are given due weightage to cover the spectrum of mental health conditions. The book has dedicated sections on various childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders to help parents and caregivers understand these. Besides, the book is up to date with information on rehabilitation and welfare benefits for persons with psychiatric disabilities as per the inclusion of mental illness for benefits under the Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. Also chapter on the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 (MHCA 2017) gives a detailed account of various definitions, terminologies, sections, and the recent status of its implementation. It also includes a critique of the MHCA 2017. This book can be of great use even to undergraduate medical students and postgraduate psychiatry trainees. The simple language of this book and the art of authors explaining difficult topics in a simplified way will help these students understand mental health disorders just like any other medical conditions and in turn, they can explain these things more simply to their patients, keens, and general public also. This book is highly recommended owing to inadequate undergraduate psychiatry teaching. This book can also be included in the must-read books list of students of allied medical sciences like mental health nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, clinical psychology, and psychiatric social work. It is an excellent resource for all those who want to become more informed about the subject. This book is easy-to-understand and has straightforward language with numerous figures, illustrations, diagrams, images, artworks, and historical figures throughout, keeping the readers engaged. From their vast clinical experience, the authors have quoted ample examples that help readers relate more to the topic. The section on “frequently asked questions” at the end of each chapter adds to the strength of this book and questions are adequately addressed. Also, with this book, readers can very well understand the role of bio-psycho-social domains in causation, understanding, presentation, and even management of mental disorders. Altogether, this is an up-to-date and comprehensive guide to mental disorders relevant to patients, caregivers, and also clinicians. In conclusion, the book “Mental Disorders and You” shall play a big role in bridging the gap between unaware, perplexed, anxious caregivers and patients on one side and advancing neuro-scientific knowledge on the other side.
Source: Indian Journal of Psychiatry
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4405332036