Film and Book Reviews

Psychiatrists who are concerned with the perils of misdiagnosing a psychiatric presentation as primary mental illness will find Susannah Cahalan’s Brain on Fire of great interest.

This book draws together the entire spectrum of the relevant psychosocial dimensions and data necessary to adequately assist in the evaluation and treatment of patients who may be candidates for bariatric surgery.

After careful review, I must admit that this is one of the best clinical books I have read and an excellent manual for clinicians.

The team psychiatrist for Super Bowl Champs, the Baltimore Ravens, draws on his own professional career of working with athletes of all ages and levels and provides a comprehensive presentation of the literature in the emerging field of sports psychiatry.

Recently, Psychiatric Times spoke with author Susannah Cahalan about her recently published memoir, which explores a subject of vital importance to psychiatrists. At the height of her disease, nothing distinguished her from a person with schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia—the only difference came later: when she was cured.

This story of a man's struggle with bipolar disorder does not romanticize mental illness. Medication compliance does place him squarely within the spectrum of imperfection which includes us all, whether or not we carry a DSM diagnosis.

This book is “essential” reading for psychiatrists to familiarize themselves with this work because the author demonstrates that the application of our principal treatments offers the best hope for the education of our nation’s children.

In spite of a psyche that was increasingly blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality, this lawyer and professor graduated from Vanderbilt with a perfect academic record.

Importantly for lay and clinician readers alike, the book Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety reads as humor-laced triumph with many lost battles along the way rather than enduring unrelenting tragedy.

Detailed, thoughtful descriptions throughout a Practical Guide to Correctional Mental Health and the Law provide context and make this reference a realistic and practical resource.

Borderline Personality Disorder: New Reasons for Hope is one in a series being published by Johns Hopkins University Press on major psychiatric disorders.

David Cronenberg’s film "A Dangerous Method" tells the story of the relationship between Freud and Jung and a woman named Sabina who had a considerable influence on both of them.

Structured around fictional case vignettes, this book presents the different pathways through which one enters the mental health system. Patients can better judge whether they are being offered the optimal treatment modality and can more effectively assess the stylistic match between themselves and their therapist.

Mostly prose with effective inclusion of poetry, author Jill Bialosky adds an important survivor’s perspective in her book of her sister's suicide. To clinicians in particular, the book may serve as a window into the psychic lives of those left behind following a tragic end.

In his book, How We Age: A Doctor’s Journey Into the Heart of Growing Old, Dr Marc Agronin helps reduce the stigma of ageism and provides clinical guidance for seasoned geriatric psychiatrists, primary care clinicians, and medical students alike.