Your Mental Health: a Layman's Guide to the Psychiatrist's Bible Book

The most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), published in 1994, has become the standard reference for clinicians in the mental health field -- and a surprise bestseller. It has sold over a million copies, including hundreds of thousands of copies to lay readers looking for an understanding of the mental disorders that affect the lives of one in five persons.

Dr. Allen Frances, who chaired the task force that wrote the DSM-IV and whom Daniel Goleman called "the most powerful psychiatrist in America," and Dr. Michael First, editor of the DSM-IV, have now translated that guide's insights into clear and lively prose.

The authors cover the full gamut of psychiatric disorders. And they do so in a tone that is consistently reassuring and respectful. They argue eloquently that you are far more likely to get good care if you are educated about your problem, understand its usual course, and know what can be done about it. Most important, the more you learn, the less alone and helpless you will feel.

Because getting the right treatment almost always depends on having the right diagnosis, each chapter of Your Mental Health focuses on a particular type of problem and provides an extremely clear set of questions to help you determine whether your symptoms are severe enough to be considered a clinical disorder. The authors offer encouraging advice that either confirms that you are, in fact, in good mental health or that directs you on the proper professional path. Complete with detailed explanations about the treatments currently available, each chapter also concludes with a list of suggested readings and information about national organizations, support groups, and other sources of help.

With its admirable combination of being reader-friendly but completely authoritative, Your Mental Health will become an indispensable and perennial home-reference title.