Lost Connections and The End of Mental Illness are two completely different takes on Mental Health. However, the knowledge that can be gained through these two insightful books will give you a new perspective on Mental Health
Johann Hari writes with real compassion and insight, shining light on an important topic, that we need to expand our understanding of both depression and of anti depressants. Taking anti-depressants to fix the chemical imbalance should not be the solution in the majority of cases. "We need to move from 'focusing on chemical imbalances to focusing on power imbalances”.
If mental illness is in your genes, it may make your distress worse but it is not the reason for how you are feeling. It's not the driver. It's not the place to look to for the answer. Self-reflect on your life, what you have been through and how your life is right now. Perhaps you are suffering from a social and spiritual imbalance in how you live? Perhaps you are disconnected from something?
In Lost Connections, Hari points out how a lot of the times it’s our environment that makes us feel down as well as hardships in life. From reading this book, these are the messages that resonated with me the most:
You need to have a community, a support group be it your family or friends. You need to have meaningful values and a purpose in life. If you can’t get that in your work, look outside of it. Don't rely on material goods to fulfil you and bring you true happiness. Don’t underestimate the power of nature and all it can do for us. Keep it close and connect with it as often as possible. It can relieve stress, increase positive emotions and clear your mind. You need the natural world. You need to feel you are respected. You need to release those feelings deep inside of you of shame, guilt, hurt, whatever it may be. Bring these feelings to the surface because that could just be the thing that makes you feel so down. These negative feelings could stem from your childhood many years ago. It must be addressed. It could be many things. Explore those feelings that have been holding you back. Seek help from mental health professionals, but not exclusively.
“ It's not serotonin; it's society. It's not your brain; it's your pain”.
Hari seeks advice from experts and listens to their experience, showcases innovative approaches and research. He emphasizes that we need to listen to our own pain, and to the pain of others and expand the possibilities of how we deal with it because as a society, we are handling depression and anxiety all wrong. This book will really challenge you, help you, and the world around you.
The End of Mental Illness is a powerful, informative book written by Dr. Amen. The content truly initiates a massive and revolutionary paradigm shift in the way mental health is viewed. This neuroscientific approach truly is fascinating and this book is a must read for every single person that has an interest in learning more about the brain, those affected by a mental illness and clinical mental health students and professionals. It completely erases the stigma that is attached to mental illness and develops in the reader compassion and understanding towards one another.
The credibility and authenticity speaks for itself when you see the lives that have been transformed in addition to the extensive scientific evidence. This informative book can be used as a self-help book. The end of mental illness highlights how many psychiatrists fail to look at the "reasons behind the cognitive disorders, psychological disorders and the behaviour." Dr.Amen discusses how many psychiatrists go by what the DSM-5 says, but they ignore the fact that sometimes the person's mental issues are not an illness but something else such as lack of blood flow to the brain, head injuries in the past or exposure to toxicity. He believes the DSM-5 should not be used to diagnose patients as every individual is so unique. Many people get prescribed antibiotics, when in reality they never needed them and all they needed was a good mental health doctor to care enough and keep digging to find out the root of the problem.
The whole idea of the book is to get across the message that “mental health” is really “brain health” and that all the stigma and shame people feel about having a psychiatric condition is misplaced. Mental Illnesses are rooted in the physical functioning of the brain and therefore like injuries, if you can recover from an injury in your knee, you can also do so with your brain. Dr. Amen uses his gift of storytelling to put this theory into context.
What are your favourite Mental Health books?
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