This book is a history of psychiatry and medicine in the context of the evolution of managed care over the last forty years. The Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital’s rise to the seventh largest psychiatric corporation (as of 2016) in the USA is reviewed in relation to those changes in funding and clinical practice.
A monograph of the historical events in psychiatry that have influenced the development of behavioral health services within the Alexian Brothers ministry.
This is a thoughtful, frank, and compassionate foray into understanding race and racism in America today. Dr D’Agostino approaches these topics with honesty and wit using research and his own experiences as foundation. Racism, he points out, is profitable. So is fear. Part memoir, part historical survey, he walks the reader through how racism, bias, and tribalism are part of the human experience. The book is for White Americans seeking to understand today’s political and racial divides. His grasp of global history and the actions of all human civilizations from antiquity onward is impressive. He begins with the complexities of finding workable definitions, then explores the historical underpinnings of slavery, colonialism, and xenophobia globally and in the US. Within each chapter he addresses the current moment, particularly how the ideals of liberty and freedom have been perverted to manipulate the fears of White Americans. This book is not an academic study. And there is plenty that the hypersensitive, politically-correct reader will take issue with. If so, that is to their detriment, because this book is a primer for how to do the hard work of examining what it means to be a White American. Not for the sake of feeling guilt or shame over the past, but it’s important to understand how we got to the present so we can avoid being complicit. He invites the reader in by continually asking questions, not in a finger-wagging, preachy way, but as a model for introspection. Throughout the book, he asks himself: What would I have done differently? Many of us like to think we’d have been ardent abolitionists, or righteously denied our privilege, but would we?
The past decade has brought important advances in our understanding of the brain, particularly its influence on the behavior, emotions, and personality of children and adolescents. In the tradition of its predecessors, the third edition of the Handbook of Clinical Child Neuropsychology enhances this understanding by emphasizing current best practice, up-to-date science, and emerging theoretical trends for a comprehensive review of the field. Along with the Handbook’s impressive coverage of normal development, pathology, and professional issues, brand-new chapters highlight critical topics in assessment, diagnostic, and treatment, including, The role and prevalence of brain dysfunction in ADHD, conduct disorder, the autistic spectrum, and other childhood disorders; The neuropsychology of learning disabilities; Assessment of Spanish-speaking children and youth; Using the PASS (planning, attention, simultaneous, successive) theory in neurological assessment; Forensic child neuropsychology; Interventions for pediatric coma. With singular range, timeliness, and clarity, the newly updated Handbook of Clinical Child Neuropsychology reflects and addresses the ongoing concerns of practitioners as diverse as neuropsychologists, neurologists, clinical psychologists, pediatricians, and physical and speech-language therapists.
Inspirational guide to finding angels and feeling the joy they bring, by looking at the beauty of art, music, poetry, and nature, and seeing the goodness that exists in all people.
With a thrilling, fast-paced narrative, award-winning journalist Douglas Perry vividly captures the sensationalized circus atmosphere that gave rise to the concept of the celebrity criminal- and gave Chicago its most famous story. The Girls of Murder City recounts two scandalous, sex-fueled murder cases and how an intrepid "girl reporter" named Maurine Watkins turned the beautiful, media-savvy suspects-"Stylish Belva" and "Beautiful Beulah"-into the talk of the town. Fueled by rich period detail and a cast of characters who seemed destined for the stage, The Girls of Murder City is a crackling tale that simultaneously presents the freewheeling spirit of the Jazz Age and its sober repercussions.
Mechanisms and standards exist to safeguard the health and welfare of the patient, but for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)—used to treat depression and other mental illnesses—such approval methods have failed. Prescribed to thousands over the years, public relations as opposed to medical trials have paved the way for this popular yet dangerous and controversial treatment option. Doctors of Deception is a revealing history of ECT (or shock therapy) in the United States, told here for the first time. Through the examination of court records, medical data, FDA reports, industry claims, her own experience as a patient of shock therapy, and the stories of others, Andre exposes tactics used by the industry to promote ECT as a responsible treatment when all the scientific evidence suggested otherwise. As early as the 1940s, scientific literature began reporting incidences of human and animal brain damage resulting from ECT. Despite practitioner modifications, deleterious effects on memory and cognition persisted. Rather than discontinue use of ECT, the $5-billion-per-year shock industry crafted a public relations campaign to improve ECT’s image. During the 1970s and 1980s, psychiatry’s PR efforts misled the government, the public, and the media into believing that ECT had made a comeback and was safe. Andre carefully intertwines stories of ECT survivors and activists with legal, ethical, and scientific arguments to address issues of patient rights and psychiatric treatment. Echoing current debates about the use of psychopharmaceutical interventions shown to have debilitating side-effects, she candidly presents ECT as a problematic therapy demanding greater scrutiny, tighter control, and full disclosure about its long-term cognitive effects.
