Customer Reviews

Caring for the Mind: The Comprehensive Guide To Mental Health

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I have to say that I felt let down by this book. It was recommended to me, and I picked it up with anticipation, ready to buy a copy. I was very disappointed, (as a psychotherapist specializing in recovery issues), to find that the dual diagnosis approach to recovery and mental health was mentioned exactly once, then ignored in favor of the old "either/or" paradigm discarded by most of us in the eighties; thus the sections on addiction and mental health are of limited use, since the interactions between the two are ignored. This book is better than nothing, but you'll have to infer your treatment plans if you let yourself be limited by its contents. Hopefully a forthcoming edition will bring it's recovery paradigm into the nineties, before they're too far behind us.

Having first discovered this remarkable book in my local suburban library whilst preparing my training course for volunteers on a 24 hour HELPLINE (for relatives and friends of those with a mental illness), I felt that this large paperback was the best book I had seen. As a social worker, I also needed up to date information and chapters with sections detailed on aspects of psychiatry, and this book was perfect. However, I have found it difficult to purchase it here. I cannot take out a permanent loan from the library, so I must buy a copy for me and also one for a friend who also works in the field! An excellent well presented text!.

Linda Selliger's is useful, Caring for the Mind goes beyond useful because of its comprehensive discussion of all aspects of the diagnosis and treatments that are currently accepted. A section in each diagnostic catagory gives a "how does this illness or distress feel to the individual" which helps to illuminate the characterists of the problem, adding to better understanding of the diagnosis.

My husband and I just found out our 13 year old daughter has a personality disorder (schizotypal specifically). We didn't get much information on either the diagnosis or how we could help our daughter from the mental health institute we have access to. So we first turned to the internet and looked up the diagnosis. Most of it was very technical, hard to understand and cynical. I found this book at our local library and it has helped us tremendously. It is clearly written for the general public to understand. We felt torn between finally finding something that helps us understand what's been going on and feeling depressed by the prognosis for the future. We think this book's a good start. Now what we'd like to find is a book that's written specifically for a teenager dealing with a personality disorder.

I have had this book for many years. I bought it when I was studying for tests and have recommended it to others. What I like most about this book is that it is so readable, so accessible, and explains things in a straightforward way. The section on what it is like for someone with a particular problem is especailly helpful. It really helped me as a student, and years later, I am still referring to it. If I want to explain something to someone else, I find that reading this book really helps me to explain things to others in an undestandable way. The book is over 10 years old now, and I hope the authors will consider updating it, if it has not yet been updated.

This book was recommended to me by a professor and I just love it because Caring for the Mind is very comprehensive and helps me better understand and make a diagnosis. I have recommended this book to several people in the field because I thought it would be helpful. This is good for straight mental health issues.

Since, I deal with addiction and co-occurring disorders I am hopeful a future edition would address this more fully. I did not find the "blurb" about addictions very helpful. It also appeared to be dated.

We do Family Development training (comprehensive case management) to staff at Community Action Agencies (mostly not-for-profits) providing vital human services to low-income families so they can become more self-sufficient. We certify these staff as Family Development Specialists through training and testing. Though these people are not mental health therapists, they need to understand the many different psychological and emotional issues participants of their programs are dealing with. The Hale's book Caring for the Mind provides us with a easy to understand description of of these issues that are part of the DSMIV. It's great!