This book explores the purpose of clinical psychological and psychiatric diagnosis, and provides a persuasive case for moving away from the traditional practice of psychiatric classification. It discusses the validity and reliability of classification-based approaches to clinical diagnosis, and frames them in their broader historical and societal context. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is used across the world in research and a range of mental health settings; here, Stijn Vanheule argues that the diagnostic reliability of the DSM is overrated, built on a limited biomedical approach to mental disorders that neglects context, and ultimately breeds stigma. The book subsequently makes a passionate plea for a more detailed approach to the study of mental suffering by means of case formulation. Starting from literature on qualitative research the author makes clear how to guarantee the quality of clinical case formulations.

Life Events and Emotional Disorder Revisited explores the variety of events that can occur, their inherent characteristics and how they affect our lives and emotions, and in turn their impact on our mental health and wellbeing. The book focuses on current social problems nationally and internationally, showing the reach of life events research including those linked to Covid-19. It also discusses trauma experiences and how they fit in the life events scheme. To underpin the various life event dimensions identified (such as loss, danger and humiliation), the authors have developed an underlying model of human needs, jeopardised by the most damaging life events. This includes attachment, security, identity and achievement. The book brings together classic research findings with new advances in the field of life events research, culminating in a new theoretical framework of life events, including new discussions on trauma, on positive events and an online methodology for measuring them. Additionally, it draws out the clinical implications to apply the research for improved practice. The book will be of interest to researchers, clinicians and students in psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy in broadening their understanding of how life events impact on individuals and how this can be applied to enhance clinical practice and stimulate future research.

Combatting mental health stigma and discrimination has moved from a radical idea in the 1990s to mainstream policy today. However, there are huge questions about how to do it effectively, and the journey to get equal life chances is still a long one. As part of the Foundations of Mental Health Practice series, this book explores these important questions and considers the solutions. It pulls together ground-breaking examples and the latest research evidence to argue for a compelling new theory and agenda for social change to promote equality and citizenship. Accessibly written, it demonstrates how mental health practitioners of all disciplines can stand alongside individuals with lived experience and their organisations to challenge discrimination and participate in all aspects of the community. It also addresses the role of families, friends and those with a policy, campaigning or legal interest. Completely up to date, it draws on new research and interviews, as well as the author's 30 years of experience working in the field. With chapter summaries, further reading and reflective exercises, this book offers support for research and practice, making it an essential and important read for any student or practitioner in the field who advocates equality, and for people with lived experience, families, friends and campaigners.

When The Natural History of Alcoholism was first published in 1983, it was acclaimed in the press as the single most important contribution to the literature on alcoholism since the first edition of Alcoholic Anonymous’s Big Book. George Vaillant took on the crucial questions of whether alcoholism is a symptom or a disease, whether it is progressive, whether alcoholics differ from others before the onset of their alcoholism, and whether alcoholics can safely drink. Based on an evaluation of more than 600 individuals followed for over forty years, Vaillant’s monumental study offered new and authoritative answers to all of these questions. In this updated version of his classic book, Vaillant returns to the same subjects with the perspective gained from fifteen years of further follow-up. Alcoholics who had been studied to age 50 in the earlier book have now reached age 65 and beyond, and Vaillant reassesses what we know about alcoholism in light of both their experiences and the many new studies of the disease by other researchers. The result is a sharper focus on the nature and course of this devastating disorder as well as a sounder foundation for the assessment of various treatments.

Life Events and Emotional Disorder Revisited explores the variety of events that can occur, their inherent characteristics and how they affect our lives and emotions, and in turn their impact on our mental health and wellbeing. The book focuses on current social problems nationally and internationally, showing the reach of life events research including those linked to Covid-19. It also discusses trauma experiences and how they fit in the life events scheme. To underpin the various life event dimensions identified (such as loss, danger and humiliation), the authors have developed an underlying model of human needs, jeopardised by the most damaging life events. This includes attachment, security, identity and achievement. The book brings together classic research findings with new advances in the field of life events research, culminating in a new theoretical framework of life events, including new discussions on trauma, on positive events and an online methodology for measuring them. Additionally, it draws out the clinical implications to apply the research for improved practice. The book will be of interest to researchers, clinicians and students in psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy in broadening their understanding of how life events impact on individuals and how this can be applied to enhance clinical practice and stimulate future research.

Bertrand Russell has played a central role in the development of modern western philosophy, especially analytic philosophy. An appreciation of the main themes and arguments of the thinkers who contributed to this modern movement in philosophy must include references to and analyses of Russell’s important contributions. It would seem that many do recognize the significance of his thought and have shown this in a somewhat dramatic manner. Russell’s Google number, for instance, is about 2.35 million. If the number of entries listed in this search engine is any indication of the level of interest online in Russell, we can surely conclude that the thought and life of this aristocratic English philosopher, logician and humanist still captures the imagination of tens of thousands, if not millions around the globe – even some thirty-seven years after his death. How do we account for this abiding interest in Russell? In a word it is accessibility. Whether it is the complex epistemological issue of the veracity of sense-data, the conundrums associated with the possibility of non-existent objects, the intricacies of the debates on the nature of language or the interminable search of a clear understanding of happiness, Russell inevitably has something profound and clear to say on the matter. Readers of Russell Revisited: Critical Reflections on the Thought of Bertrand Russell will be reminded of this fact time and time again as they explore the analyses here. Representing some of the best of the most recent scholarship on Russell, the articles gathered in this collection serve as a testament to the value of Russell’s diverse contributions to a wide range of challenging philosophical issues.

Jay Haley Revisited brings together influential professionals in psychotherapy and counseling to introduce, analyze, and put into context 20 of the most interesting and significant papers Jay Haley produced, both published and unpublished. Jay Haley was one of the most influential thinkers in psychotherapy who revolutionized the field through his writings, teachings, research, and supervision for more than half a century. The seminal classic papers found in this volume capture the wit, humor, and the ability to look at a field and offer critique that leads to constructive change. This book will delight readers who, in one volume, can trace the birth and development of the field of family therapy, and the revolution from traditional ideas to modern therapy approaches, in the voice of one of the field’s most gifted teachers.

This book re-examines the case of Nadia, discovered as a child aged six, who had been drawing with phenomenal skill and visual realism from the age of three, despite having autism and severe learning difficulties. The original research was published in 1977 and caused great international interest. Nadia Revisited updates her story and reconsiders the theories that endeavour to explain her extraordinary talent. As well as summarising the central issues from the original case study and presenting her remarkable drawings, the book explains Nadia’s subsequent development and present situation in light of the recent research on autistic spectrum disorders and representational drawing in children. The book also considers the phenomenon of savant syndrome, the condition in which those with autism or other learning disabilities have areas of unusual talent that contrast dramatically with their general functioning. Lorna Selfe uses this single case study to discuss theories of developmental psychology and considers the possible links between prodigious talent and underlying neurological dysfunction. The book is especially valuable for students and teachers of developmental psychology and neuropsychology, education and special education, as well as art and art education. Parents of autistic children or those with related disorders, learning difficulties or special needs will also be interested in the discussions presented in this book.

Linguistic taboo has been relegated for a long time to a peripheral position within Linguistics, due to its social stigmatization and inherent linguistic complexity. Recently, though, there has been a renewed interest in revisiting the phenomenon, especially from cognitive frameworks. This volume is the first collection of papers dealing with linguistic taboo from that perspective. The volume gathers 15 chapters, which provide novel insights into a broad range of taboo phenomena (euphemism, dysphemism, swearing, political correctness, coprolalia, etc.) from the fields of sexuality, diseases, death, war, ageing or religion. With a special focus on lexical semantics, the authors in the volume work within Cognitive Linguistics frameworks such as conceptual metaphor and metonymy, cultural conceptualization or cognitive sociolinguistics, but also at the interface of pragmatics, discourse analysis, applied linguistics, cognitive science or psychiatry. This volume provides theoretical reflections and case studies based on new methods and data from varied languages (English, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, Persian, Gikũyũ and Egyptian Arabic). As such, it moves towards a new generation of linguistic taboo studies.