This is the story of one of the most far-reaching human endeavors in history: the quest for mental well-being. From its origins in the eighteenth century to its wide scope in the early twenty-first, this search for emotional health and welfare has cost billions. In the name of mental health, millions around the world have been tranquilized, institutionalized, psycho-analyzed, sterilized, lobotomized and even euthanized. Yet at the dawn of the new millennium, reported rates of depression and anxiety are unprecedentedly high. Drawing on years of field research, Ian Dowbiggin argues that if the quest for emotional well-being has reached a crisis point in the twenty-first century, it is because mass society is enveloped by cultures of therapism and consumerism, which increasingly advocate bureaucratic and managerial approaches to health and welfare.

A Telegraph Book of the Year A Washington Post Notable Work A Times Book of the Year A Hughes Award Finalist “An indisputable masterpiece...comprehensive, fascinating, and persuasive.” —Wall Street Journal “Compulsively readable...Scull has joined his wide-ranging reporting and research with a humane perspective on matters that many of us continue to look away from.” —Daphne Merkin, The Atlantic “I would recommend this fascinating, alarming, and alerting book to anybody. For anyone referred to a psychiatrist it is surely essential.” —The Spectator “Meticulously researched and beautifully written, and even funny at times.” —The Guardian “Brimming with wisdom and brio, this masterful work spans the history of psychiatry. Exceedingly well-researched, wide-ranging, provocative in its conclusions, and magically compact, it is riveting from start to finish. Mark my words, Desperate Remedies will soon be a classic.” —Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire From the birth of the asylum to the latest drug trials, Desperate Remedies brings together a galaxy of mind doctors working in and out of institutional settings: psychologists and psychoanalysts, neuroscientists and cognitive behavioral therapists, as well as patients and their families desperate for relief. One of the most provocative thinkers writing about psychiatry today, Andrew Scull carefully reconstructs the rise and fall of state-run mental hospitals to explain why so many of the mentally ill are now on the street, and why victims of experimental therapies were so often women. He reveals how drug companies expanded their reach to treat a growing catalog of ills, while deliberately concealing the side effects of drugs now routinely prescribed from childhood through senescence. Carefully researched and compulsively readable, this passionate and compassionate account of America’s long battle with mental illness challenges us to rethink our deepest assumptions about how we think and feel.

The Quest to Feel Good is an important and necessary text to mental health professionals that helps readers understand that negative emotions serve a critical adaptive purpose that functions in relation to one's ultimate desire for a felt-positive state.

Did you ever want to be a hero? Have you ever dreamed of going on an epic quest to destroy monsters, defeat evil forces and fly on the back of a dragon? This interactive new self-help book puts you, the reader, in a fantasy world where every decision you make and every path you take will influence the outcome of your journey. When the seer Anka spirits you away to the world of Here, you find yourself proclaimed the Chosen One - the hero everyone is relying on to defeat the evil sorceress Mallena before she destroys everything. But you don't feel like a hero, do you? If you choose to accept this quest, you will have an opportunity to learn the skills that you need and put together a crew of loyal friends and companions to help you with your journey. The skills are based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which has been shown through research to help people overcome depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain, addiction disorders and many other common problems. Your journey will be full of danger, loss and strange creatures, but it will also be full of excitement, adventure and fun, and will let you form life-long bonds of friendship, which no curses can break. This book is your call to adventure, an invitation to be the hero in your own story.

"A passionate and thought-provoking book, particularly in our present economic climate" - Therapy Today, May 2009 "A vibrant, passionate, and hugely readable text which goes to the heart of the therapeutic project: how to help clients lead fuller and more meaningful lives" - Mick Cooper, Professor of Counselling at University of Strathclyde The unspoken yearning that brings people to therapy is often that of a desperate desire for happiness. Should therapists ignore this desire, interpret it or challenge it? And what does our preoccupation with happiness tell us about contemporary culture and the role of the therapist? In this book, Emmy van Deurzen addresses the taboo subject of the moral role of psychotherapists and counsellors. Asking when and why we decided that the aim of life is to be happy, she poses searching questions about the meaning of life. Psychotherap y and the Quest for Happiness seeks to define what a good life consists of and how therapists might help their clients to live well rather than just in search of happiness. This text makes stimulating reading for all trainee and practising counsellors and psychotherapists, especially those interested in the existential approach. Emmy van Deurzen is Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Conflict and Reconciliation, and honorary Professor at the School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield

This essential book shows practitioners how they can engage with teens' online lives to support their mental health. Drawing on interviews with young people it discusses how adults can have open and inquiring conversations with teens about both the positive and negative aspects of their use of online spaces. For most young people there is no longer a barrier between their 'real' and 'online' lives. This book reviews the latest research around this topic to investigate how those working with teenagers can use their insights into digital technologies to promote wellbeing in young people. It draws extensively on interviews with young people aged 12-16 throughout, who share their views about social media and reveal their online habits. Chapters delve into how teens harness online spaces such as YouTube, Instagram and gaming platforms for creative expression and participation in public life to improve their mental health and wellbeing. It also provides a framework for practitioners to start conversations with teens to help them develop resilience in respect of their internet use. The book also explores key risks such as bullying and online hate, social currency and the quest for 'likes', sexting, and online addiction. This is essential reading for teachers, school counsellors, social workers, and CAMHS professionals (from psychiatrists to mental health nurses) - in short, any practitioner working with teenagers around mental health.

My Quest for Health Equity is a vital resource for current and rising leaders.