Monday, May 31, 2010

Our Readers' List of Best Shrinky Books

I asked for Shrinky Book recommendations, and I thought I'd compile the full list of recommendations. Thank you for your help, and here goes:

Aqua said...
Existential Psychotherapy , by Irvin Yalom. This book resonated so deeply with me. It has helped me get so much more out of therapy than I ever imagined possible.
Blogger Rach said...
Totally agree with Aqua. I'll add Kay Redfield Jamison's books books. And for the totally obvious one, the DSM-IV-TR . (I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but for some people, reading about what they "have" provides some semblance of relief. or comedy. or tragedy. or a combination.)

Mindful said...
My recommendations: Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression by Sally Brampton; Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron; An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamieson; and Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.
Sarebear said...
Don't you hate it when it's on the tip of your tongue/fingers/brain but you can't quite come up with it? Flowers for Algernon has always been a fave, if that fits. Sad though. Kay's an Unquiet Mind never did much for me; alot of it was, well, her friends were all in the field, so she had a helluva support system. Nothing like the real world for most people. Not that that makes the book invalid for any "list"; just is why I don't like it. "In Session" by Deborah A. Lott The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner The Dance of Intimacy, Harriet Goldhor Lerner, Ph.D. The Search For the Real Self, James F. Masterson, M.D.
Anonymous

Anonymous said...
Second "In Session" by Deborah A. Lott. Also liked Harriet Goldhor Lerner's "The Dance of Intimacy". Yalom and Kramer's books are good. "The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook" by Edmund Bourne, Ph.D and "Self-Esteem" by Matthew McKay, Ph.D are useful resources for cognitive work. Liked Syd Baumel's "Dealing With Depression Naturally" for complementary and alternative therapies. And also liked "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work" by John Gottman, Ph.D and "Hold Me Tight" by Sue Johnson, Ph.D for couples/relationship issues.
Anonymous said...
Womens' Moods:What Every Women Must Know About Hormones, the Brain and Emotional Health - by Deborah Sichel and Jeanne Watson Driscoll. Why Am I Still Depressed? Recognizing and Managing the Ups and Downs of Bipolar II and Soft Bipolar Disorder - by Jim Phelps
Anonymous

Anonymous said...
The Sociopath Next Door - made such a difference in my life in both recognizing such people and realizing that I was not the problem.
Blogger Rach said...
I third In Session.
"In a House of Dreams and Glass" By Robert Klitzman, MD About his Psychiatric Residency-excellent! (He later wrote a book, i believe it's called "When Doctors-or Physicans-Become Patients", based on his own severe reactive depression when his sister was killed in the Twin Towers...) The classic, wonderful "Mount Misery", sequel to "House of God". "The Gift of Therapy" Irving Yalom, MD
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Marya Hornbacher wrote two books that describe her mental illnesses that are a very good first hand account of what it might be like to have them. Wasted (written in her early 20s) describes her childhood and teen years struggling with bulimia and anorexia. Madness (written in her later 20s or early 30s) describes her manic and depressive breakdowns which she had later, after writing wasted. When she wrote wasted she did not know she had bipolar disorder.
Anonymous merope3 said...
Best book about depression I ever read? "Crime and Punishment." I've never had a fictional character resonate so powerfully with me before.
Anonymous

Ally said...
Deborah Luepnitz's book on intimacy. Dan Gottlieb. And absolutely Jim Phelps and Kay Redfield Jamison!
Anonymous Paula said...

hmmm, shrinky books ... um, probably "Gas Smells Awful" by Helen Razer, covers some important issues in a non-conventional kind of humorous way.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
I wrote a long comment and my connection crashed! I am reading "MAD, BAD and SAD: A history of women and the mind doctors from 1800 to the present" by Lisa Appignanesi I would recommend this book to people who want a more longitudinal view of psychiatric medicine. It's not one for the here and now "what is therapy, how does it work". For anyone with an interest in the history of medicine and the background and major players in the field of psych, this book might be for you. Along the way there are vignettes, some familiar and others more obscure. I am reading it slowly, it's not a 'page turner'. All I can say is that I am glad I am alive in the era of prozac and bupropion. Paperdoll
Blogger tracy said...
Definately agree on Mayra Hornbacher!!! She's excellent! Also, "Gracefully Insane" the history of McLean Hospital. Some really sad and touching stories there...to put it mildly.
















Blogger dr. bob said...
Users of my web site have voted to highlight: In Session: The Bond Between Women and Their Therapists by Deborah A. Lott and Marie Cohen Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns The Road Less Traveled : A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho
Anonymous 
Kathy said...
Hi there - here are some books most of you won't have heard of... I had a black dog - Matthew Johnstone, 2005. A brilliant, illustrated insight into life with the black dog and how we might tame it. Living with a black dog - Matthew and Ainsley Johnstone, 2008. A must-have guide for the partners, family, friends and colleagues of people suffering depression. Broken Open - Craig Hamilton, 2004. A memoir of what it's like to go mad in public and survive to tell the tale. My brush with depression - The Greg Wilson Story - Aaron Cootes and Greg Wilson, 2005. A biographical story which shows how much others' support can help one overcome depression. Journeys with the black dog - Inspirational stories of bringing depression to heel, 2007. Edited by Tessa Wigney, Kerrie Eyers and Gordon Parker. Dying for a cure - Rebekah Beddoe, 2007. A memoir of antidepressants, misdiagnosis and marketing disguised as science. I suffer chronic major depression. These books have touched me in various ways and helped me in my journey. Sometimes hearing someone else describing circumstances similar to my own has been the only thing that helped me to keep part of myself grounded in reality. I think it is always helpful to know that you are not alone in what you are experiencing.
Anonymous 
Anonymous said...
Oh and I forgot to mention, with my network crash and all.... I so love "Staying Alive: Unreal Poems for unreal times" Edited by Neil Astley 500 life-afirming poems, fired by belief in the human spirit. They connect our aspirations to humanity and have help me in deep dark moments. Was I a book reviewer in a former life? Any one who feels low, please read these poems. I hope they help comfort you in the grey dark moments and give you that comfy, all is well feeling with rain falling on a tin roof. Excerpt p 456 Late fragment: And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on this earth Raymond Carver Paperdoll
Anonymous 
Attachment Girl said...
I would highly recommend "A General Theory of Love" by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon. It discusses, very poetically actually, the relationship between attachment theory, neurobiology and how we actually heal in therapy. The insight it gave me into the process was a major turning point for me. Highly accessible for layman, but my therapist also loved it.
Anonymous 
butterfly said...
Being Ourself, by therapist Ty Clement has been the most valuable book I've encountered in my existential journey to healing.
Anonymous 
Katie said...
Every single one of Kay Redfield Jamison's books - including her textbook on Manic Depressive Illness: Bipolar Disorders and Recurrent Depression. Also, Narcissism and the Psychotherapist, by Sheila Rouslin Welt, William G. Herron Learning from the Patient by Casement was Very Psychoanalytic based, but interesting Hurry Down Sunshine (Michael Greenberg) was a beautiful book about mental illness, not shrinky, though I very strongly dislike most of Yalom's writings...I know they are quite popular but I find them to be lacking any substance, and his writing to be quite full of himself.
Anonymous 
Dr X said...
Regarding Katie's comment on Yalom, I feel the same way. I don't understand Yalom's popularity. His work strikes me as shallow. I also agree with the endorsement of Casement's book. It's an excellent presentation of self-supervision, supervision by the patient and the unconscious, interactional dimensions of treatment.
Anonymous 
Sherri said...
Undercurrents, by Martha Manning
Anonymous

nardilfan said...
I'd love to be able to sound all pretentious and say Madness and Civilization by Michel Foucault - but unfortunately, I've actually read it and it seems to be nothing more than a long, boring, over-complicated, deliberately unclear and factually incorrect exercise in making Michel Foucault look cleverer than he actually was. Reading that drivel made me appreciate the humour of the Postmodernism Generator (at http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/ ) - and of Alan Sokal's infamous parody paper, Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity ( see http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/transgress_v2/transgress_v2_singlefile.html ). There are quite a few fiction books which I think are worth mentioning, if they can be made relevant. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, for example, although it is fiction and set a fair distance in the past, still has a lot of relevance in terms of issues around compulsory treatment, the differences between a prison sentence and psychiatric incarceration, and lots of other fun stuff (and does it a lot more effectively and entertainingly than Foucault's effort). For instructional manuals, there's the hilarious (and irritating) "Mind Over Mood" - which is used in the NHS, seemingly as a way of relieving the staff who actually deliver CBT of much of their workload. It's supposed to be used in conjunction with the clinician's version, and you work through it together. Can I suggest that as well as a bibliography you include a list of helpful and/or interesting MH-related films? There are a LOT of very interesting films that deal with many different aspects of mental illness, treatments, social attitudes etc. .\
Anonymous 
Anonymous said...
Irvin Yalom, Nassir Ghaemi & Paul McHugh are all psychiatrists whose writings I admire. I also enjoy reading books that offer a more critical view of therapy/ psychiatry/ psychology/ etc, because these books have really made me think and re-think some of my beliefs about therapy/ diagnosis/ etc. (I say this as a patient): -Manufacturing Depression by Gary Greenberg (I just read it, one of the best books I've read) -Therapy Culture by Frank Furedi (and I would love to be able to read through the entire bibliography for this book...) -Bright-Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich (esp because of her chapters on the positive psychology movement) -The Loss of Sadness by Alan Horwitz and Jerome Wakefield -From Morality to Mental Health by Mike Martin -The Antidepressant Era by David Healy
Anonymous 
Anonymous said...
The 10 best ever anxiety management techniques by Margaret Wehrenberg What works, why it works, what to do when it doesn't work The gift of therapy by Irving Yalom Even though he is self promoting, he's still right Our Inner Conflicts by Karen Horney Understanding and making peace with resistence All together 3 different approaches that make sense

Alison Cummins said...
Don't know what a "shrink book" is, but this is one that was helpful to me" http://www.noondaydemon.com/
DeleteSunny CA said...
My favorite shrink book is: "Should You Leave?" By Peter D. Kramer Delete

Sunny CA said...
"The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" by Oliver Sacks is another favorite shrink book.
AnonymousDelete
Anonymous

d'Zhuoy said...
Noonday Demon -- yes, yes, yes! What an incredible book. Even better than William Styron's Darkness Visible (which you might consider). Then there's A. Alvarez's books Night (1996) and The Savage God: A Study of Suicide (date?). I'm sure you've already added these three by Kay Redfield Jamison: Night Falls Fast, Touched with Fire, and An Unquiet Mind. Emile Durkheim's classic On Suicide. In a more literary vein there's Ted Hughes's The Birthday Letters, poems on the suicide of his wife, Sylvia Plath. Fascinating look into the mind of one who was left behind. The Plath-Hughes marriage is a rich vein for primary and secondary texts, from Plath's correspondence to feminist psychiatric critiques. I would encourage you to include some books that offer critiques of psychiatry. I'm not talking about the silly antipsychiatry spoutings of Scientology and the like; I'm talking about reasonable, rational critics like Thomas Szasz. But maybe I'm way off base. Delete
Anonymous

d'Zhuoy said...
Oh, and also... your ducky reminded me of my favorite-ever episode of The Ze Frank Show: http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/05/050806.html The best use of 3 minutes I can think of.
From Dinah: Thank you, everyone, for you help!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I missed the original post requesting book names, so I'm adding mine here: :)

- Everything by Mary Pipher, particularly "Letters to a Young Therapist"

- "Get It Done When You're Depressed" by Julie Fast. This is the only self-help book I've ever found to be actually useful. I leave it in my bedside table and if I have a day where I can't get out of bed, this book can give me concrete suggestions for how to get my day moving.

Also, LOL to the comment about Mind Over Mood being irritating! It's my therapist's Very Favorite Book and I hate, hate, hate doing thought records...

Mindful said...

What, no meta analysis from the shrink on what you make of our suggestion? Dinah - I am disappointed!

PS We also never heard from Clinkshrink about the rat.

Anonymous said...

We would like to know the books that YOU suggest (if any at all) to your patients.

Pete lends books out. Essays mostly. Some connect, others don't, but I do feel intellectual. I did learn there is more to Roman Polanski.

I also like Gordon Livingstone. A pdoc and he has lived it. His web site "60 true things" I visit sometimes.

tracy said...

Tracy also said "In a House of Dreams and Glass" the story of a Psychiatrist's Residency and "Mount Misery" never to be forgotten sequel to "House of God"

("Mount Misery" is about a long term "treatment facility")

Anonymous said...

If you're still taking suggestions:

Asperger's and Girls by Tony Attwood. It's short, easy to read, and shows differences in how Asperger's may appear in girls.

Pretending To Be Normal by Liane Holliday Willey. Tells mostly what it has been like for her to have Asperger's but also to have a child who has it.

Anonymous said...

The Bible is brimming with stuff that would keep a shrink busy for a lifetime. Job was pretty darned depressed.
There are tons of traumatized people, people suffering hallucinations or rather, prophets. Murder, rape, incest, adultery, you name it--its there. For OCD, try the biblical commentaries.

Anonymous said...

All these recommended books about depression - does reading about depression really help? The more I read about it, the more discouraged I become! I'd rather stick to the NY Times Bestseller list where one can always find an easy read.

Anonymous said...

why on earth would you simply copy and paste your comments section from the other post?!? what a waste of our time - don't you think we read them ourselves? ! at least make some relevant comments, or stabilize the font to make it readable!

Anonymous said...

Most books by Jean Shinoda Bolen. No mention by anyone?

EastCoaster said...

I really liked Peter Whybrow's A Mood Apart.

Anonymous said...

Some I have read, some I have heard of, and some are new to me. I'd add Alice Miller's writing, esp. The Drama of the Gifted Child (has another title, too, but don't recall at present). Often reading helps, but not when I am really in the dark down places...then I just use other's words to beat myself up with...
Curiously, when I am in the dark places, rereading something familiar and ultimately hopeful, such as The Lord of the Rings saga or poetry by Mary Oliver, can be a help - gives some hope, and some reassurance that my brain is still working.

Anonymous said...

Some wonderful Child Psychiatry stories in The Cockroach Catcher. As one reviewer said, it is not just for professionals!

I could not put it down and could not sleep for a few nights!