Film and Book Reviews

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.

Although memoirs have become all the rage, they are rarely written by anyone in the field of psychiatry . . . and for good reason.

Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life is not easy entertainment, but for psychiatrists who might welcome an encounter with a brilliant, uncompromising mind, The Tree of Life is enthralling.

From my standpoint as the author of Unhinged, Dr Haldipur’s review is both good news and bad news.

Unhinged is one of many books published in the past few years critical of psychiatry. A book of scandals and debates, and a polemic of sorts—a “trahison des clercs”—rather than an intellectual discussion about psychiatry. Therein lies the trouble with psychiatry.

Talking to Families About Mental Illness aims to help primary care providers who want to offer family psychoeducation. This book targets non-psychiatrists who diagnose and treat mental illnesses.

See if you can tell if the following quote comes from religious wisdom or a CBT therapist: “To defeat depression, you must introduce a fresh perspective to your thinking. You must begin to replace troubling, destructive thoughts with positive, constructive ones.” To this, we say, “Amen.”

The Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy is a succinct, well-written volume that provides evidence for the wisdom behind treatment of the family and/or involvement of the family when treating the patient.

I would recommend it for medical students who have been thrust into the role of primary decision maker for their patients, and clinicians who would appreciate a pocket supervisor to help them make treatment decisions.

The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head will appeal to lay readers who like to solve puzzles, as well as to seasoned clinicians who will be challenged by its wide array of intricate cases.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is making something of a comeback because it remains a paragon of efficacy amidst other relatively disappointing treatments.

For those of us who treat seriously emotionally disturbed children, We’ve Got Issues is a welcome change from the invectives of those who believe that the use psychotropic medication is virtually criminal.

A well-written volume that provides evidence for the wisdom behind treatment of the family and/or involvement of the family when treating the patient.

What Works for Psychiatrists in Community and Institutional Settings

This book is recommended for therapy trainees who are interested in relational psychodynamic approaches and concerned with putting these seemingly abstract concepts into “real world” practice.