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A Very Short Introduction 1st edn. Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. Sign in with your library card. Contents Front Matter Preface List of illustrations 1. Asylums and the origins of psychiatry 3. The move into the community 4. Psychoanalysis and psychotherapy 5. Psychiatry under attack — inside and out 6. More than any other branch of medicine, psychiatry has been attacked and criticized.
There is a long list of perceived horrors--patient abuse, bizarre medical experiments, mind-control by evil governments, coercion by maniacal hypnotists. Modern psychiatry brings with it new controversies, such as the perceived over-prescription of antidepressants and behavior modifiers for children and teens, or unchecked marketing power of drug companies. This book does not draw conclusions on these issues, but rather provides the reader with a clear understanding of what psychiatry is, and what it does, so that they can draw their own.
It is a great reference for anyone with an interest in mental illness and its treatment, students of psychiatry, medicine, psychology, and history of science, and health professionals. Paperback , pages.
Psychiatry: A Very Short Introduction
Very Short Introductions To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Psychiatry , please sign up. Lists with This Book. Jun 06, Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it Shelves: A Very Short Introduction Very Short Introductions , Tom Burns Explaining what psychiatry is and what it does, this work looks at the major mental illnesses and how they are treated.
Jan 29, Michelle rated it really liked it Shelves: I have only seen a psychiatrist once in my life.
Psychiatry: A Very Short Introduction by Tom Burns
He was rude, judgemental, and prescribed me pills that made me feel worse. I suspect he didn't care, as he didn't bother to turn up for our next appointment. I stopped taking the pills, and will never take them again. This book is interesting study into what psychiatry is, what it isn't, and what the 'trends' are.
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Although good luck trying to get any help with mental health on the NHS now. If I wanted to see a psychiatrist again, I would probably I have only seen a psychiatrist once in my life. If I wanted to see a psychiatrist again, I would probably have to pay for the privilege. I think I'll stick to self-help books and binge-watching The Walking Dead.
Thankfully, that works for me. May 15, Maggie rated it really liked it Shelves: This is a brief but excellent overview of psychiatry. It starts by defining psychiatry, explaining how it is influenced by the illnesses it treats and the treatments available, and explaining the main mental psychoses, neuroses and personality disorders. It then outlines the history of psychiatry, from its origins in the first public madhouses to the first asylums, which started well but got overcrowded, to the shift to smaller psychiatric units in larger hospitals and community care.
All these This is a brief but excellent overview of psychiatry.
All these changes were influenced not only by discoveries of effective treatments but also by social attitudes. The fourth chapter describes the types, effectiveness and criticisms of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. The book then goes on to criticisms of psychiatry, including ethical issues like whether it infringes the human right to be different, its impact on the legal system, and its expansion to questionable diagnoses like oppositional defiant disorder.
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Finally, the last chapter makes predictions for psychiatry in the 21st century. As a medical student I expect to receive training on the practical aspects of psychiatry in the near future, so I was delighted that this book covered the history of the profession, providing the background for my future education and practice.
I've never realised how much the current definition and scope of psychiatry is moulded by its past, which in turn was influenced by changing cultures and societal attitudes. In fact psychiatry is defined by culture, as what is considered abnormal can only be understood in the context of what is culturally normal. As Tom Burns tells us, this raises the ethical issue of whether normal healthy people are forced to think they are abnormal, or even forced into treatment, just because they are not like the rest of society.
Another ethical issue that I found interesting was what psychiatry should treat. Burns explains that psychiatrists are partly influenced by patients. Patients seek help when they find their symptoms unacceptable.
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As the stigma of being diagnosed with a psychiatric illness decreases and stoic perseverance is appreciated less, psychiatrists are being called to treat people in circumstances where previously alternative forms of coping would have sufficed. Hw do we decide who needs psychiatric help? The Introduction says that mental illnesses involve experiences familiar to all of us such as depression or disinhibition, with the additional criteria that an important threshold has been crossed. How do we define this threshold?
Do we even bother to identify it? And if we don't, are we undermining the value of personal resilience? Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Academic Skip to main content. Choose your country or region Close. A Very Short Introduction. Ebook This title is available as an ebook. To purchase, visit your preferred ebook provider. A Very Short Introduction Second Edition Tom Burns Very Short Introductions Psychiatry is increasingly a part of everyday life think about Prozac, ADHD, Care in the Community and this book provides a valuable and comprehensible introduction to the subject Covers a broad range of topics, from the main illnesses and their identification, to the history of their treatment, and the future of the discipline Tom Burns was the psychiatric advisor to the UK Parliamentary committee scrutinising the UK Mental Health Bill Part of the best-selling Very Short Introductions series - millions of copies sold worldwide New to this Edition: Considers recent social changes in psychiatry and the issues psychiatry needs to combat today, such as the fact that women are no longer to be relied on as carers, and the problems associated with ageing populations and the challenge of dementia Includes new material on scientific advances, such as Virtual Reality in both diagnosis and treatment, and artificial intelligence.