Helping Someone with Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers

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Rosalynn Carter's "Helping Someone with Mental Illness" is a powerful tool that anyone--families, social workers, doctors, consumers--can put to good use. There are other such books on the shelf, such as Surviving Schizophrenia: A Family Manual, but Carter's is by far the best. She has managed to weave the deeply moving stories of many individuals into a cleanly organized discussion of every salient issue: diagnosis, treatment, scientific research, stigma, advocacy. Her descriptions of the different mental illnesses--schizophrenia, depression, manic-depression or bipolar illness, and the anxiety disorders--are particularly cogent, and her 20-page list of references is alone worth the price of the book.

Carter never sugarcoats a hard truth or omits a painful statistic, but somehow her voice--warmly personal but also respectfully reserved--comes through so strongly that it is almost as if she is in the room with the reader. Coauthor Susan K. Golant, whom Carter thanks for her organizational skills--among other things--has done her work in a particularly unobtrusive way. This is much more than a book; it is a companion.

Reading Carter on mental illness is like reading Dr. Spock on child care. Having advocated for the mentally ill for most of her adult life, she is an acknowledged expert by now, and she writes with the authority one might expect. But her special status as a mother also subtly informs her text. Discussing caregiver burnout, she writes, "Having dinner at 6:00 p.m. each evening, going to church every Sunday, or watching a favorite TV show every day are all simple ways of maintaining a sense of control. Routines can create structure and a feeling of safety." Readers will be particularly grateful for Carter's constant, explicit suggestions for beating the stigma that often surrounds mental illness. Perhaps no book can be perfect--Carter writes little about post- traumatic stress disorder, a common affliction--but Helping Someone with Mental Illness comes very, very close. --Peggy Moorman

Book Description

The first thing you need to know is that life isn't over. "The good news," writes Mrs. Carter in Helping Someone with Mental Illness, "is that with proper diagnosis and treatment, the overwhelming majority of people with mental illness can now lead productive lives." Based on Mrs. Carter's twenty-five years of advocacy and the latest data from the Rosalynn Carter Symposia for Mental Illness, her book offers step-by-step information on what to do after the diagnosis: seeking the best treatment; evaluating health-care providers; managing workplace, financial, and legal matters.

Mrs. Carter addresses the latest breakthroughs in understanding, research, and treatment of schizophrenia, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other mental disorders. She also discusses the emotional and psychological issues in caregiving for people with mental illness and offers concrete suggestions to help erase the prejudice and discrimination based on misinformation about mental illness. Her book is also a rich clearinghouse that guides readers to hundreds of specialized resources, including organizations, hot lines, newsletters, videos, books, websites, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Very Educational.......2001-10-27

This was one book I did not hesitate to buy as I know so many people with the mental illnesses.

I must applaud Rosalyn Carter one of the former First Ladies for her help in understanding Mental Illness and for trying her utmost not to see it as a stigma in this twenty first century......but for us to learn that getting help is the priority here.

From Depression to Panic attacks......Paranoia to Schizophrenia, caregiving with lots of love and understanding can go a long way. Buy this book to assist you if not now, sometime in the Autumn-time when friends and love ones will be taken under that dark umbrella. The treatments for each mental illness is remarkable.Thank you Roslyn Carter with help from Susan K. Golnat for a book that's going to help millions.
Congratulations.
Reviewed by Heather Marshall Negahdar (SUGAR-CANE 26/10/01)

A caring and compassionate work.......1999-05-12

The former First Lady's book is a very compassionate effort which can help a person who has to deal with mental illness for the first time no matter what the setting. Mrs. Carter gives a good over-view of the "whole picture" concerning all mental illness with enough detail to give the reader a good foundation in the subject. I think the really profound thing that I read in every line of the book was the real sincerity that Mrs. Carter has for her work. She really is serious about changing the way some in society look at individuals with mental illesses. I applaud her for her work and her book.

facing the difficult challenge.......1999-05-07

An excellent resource for family members and friends who wish to help a person with mental illness. I especially appreciated the book's emphasis on biological *and* social risk factors for various forms of mental illness.

The section on building resiliancy in children at risk for mental illness is reason alone to purchase this book. It is a wise, compassionate, humane treatus on a very important topic.

A first book for the reader uninformed about mental illness........1998-12-08

Rosalynn Carter's new book evokes compassion from the reader as she unfolds her personal experience of becoming aware of persons with mental illness. This affliction has many facets and is painful for the family as well as the patient. Carter leads the reader through various types of mental illness, noting symptoms. The reader may use the book as a reference and not a 'read for pleasure' book.

Carter writes simply and without exaggerating, so she is easy to read and to understand. With the resources listed in index "D", she equips the uninformed reader to bring understanding in his interaction with his/her co-workers and friends. This is especially important as mentally ill patients need support of those around them. They also need the same financial help that patients with surgical and medical problems receive.

Excellent Rosalynn Knows Everything About Mental Illness.......1998-10-19

Rosalynn Carter's book tells it just the way it is and how you can treat the mental illnesses' the way they should be. Reading her book you cannot miss having the right treatment. I myself also believe a lot of the treatment comes from support of the family and guidance that is a must ,a mentally ill person whom does not have that benefit will become a difficult road to travel.

Mrs. Carter started her journey many years ago and never tired of it, she is a true believer that if you want to get well you can never stop searching for the answer of which she never did.

Understanding the illness is the first battle. When I seen Rosalynn on the Larry King Live Show and she had introduced her new book, just by listening to her speak I knew she gave a lot of her years on research, she is very sincere.

Thank you Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, as I have someone in my family with the illness and you could not explain it any better than you did in your book " Helping Someone With Mental Illness ".

Book Description

For over 60 years, there has been an unprecedented cover-up by both the British Establishment and successive generations of historians about the flight of Hitler's Deputy Rudolf Hess to Scotland in May 1941. It has long been dismissed as the misguided attempt of a madman to make contact with a non-existent British peace party. Based on entirely new material from eyewitnesses, hitherto inaccessible archives, and intelligence sources, Double Standards reveals that despite official denials, Hess flew to Britain with Hitler’s full knowledge; that there is is substantial evidence that the prisoner who died in Spandau prison was not the real Rudolf Hess; and that Winston Churchill guilefully used Hess to influence Hitler and change Britain’s fortunes in the war.

Customer Reviews:

How much do you know about world war 2?.......2005-07-29

This book presents a convincing case that Rudolf Hess died in a plane crash en route from Scotland to Sweden in 1942 and that the "Rudolf Hess" jailed in Spandau was a brainwashed, mind-controlled double, who was assassinated on orders of the British government shortly before he was due to be released in 1987.

I would say this is worth reading in conjunction with Albert Speer's Spandau: the Secret Diaries. In that book Speer tells of the "blatant madness", memory lapses and bizarre statements (e.g. "I'm not the man I used to be") of the prisoner thought to be Rudolf Hess. Anyone familiar with MKUltra will be familiar with the name of Dr Donald Ewen Cameron, who happened to be "Rudolf Hess"'s psychiatrist at Nuremburg.

The book also contains interesting information about the rise of the Nazis and of how British high society was impressed with Nazi ideology and of how America came to be involved in the war.

But if the cause be not good ...........2003-10-19

There are not many German books about Rudolf Hess. By contrast, the book list presented in Double Standards" gives us a dozen British or US titles dealing specifically with the man and many more in which Hess plays a part. Is this due only to the well-known British love of mystery stories, or are there other reasons for the seemingly constant preoccupation with this particular subject?

In 1939, Britain and France were major imperial powers, the USA were still digging their way out of a home-made depression, Germany was trying to reconsolidate herself at the expense of some of her neighbours, and the Soviet Union loomed in the background. A mere six years later, the erstwhile empires were gone or nearly so, Germany was devastated materially, politically, and spiritually, but the Soviet Union had advanced its sway some 500 miles to the west, and for all intents and purposes the USA occupied the rest of Europe.

This was not at all the situation Britain had envisioned when she declared war on Germany after the German invasion of Poland, but, if we are to believe the authors of this book, it corresponded very closely to a picture which Rudolf Hess, after his daring and tragically unsuccessful flight to Scotland, repeatedly outlined to his captors as a possibility to be avoided at all costs. Even if the details of the proposals Hess had taken along on his flight are still locked away or lost forever, this outline matches perfectly the German assessment of the political situation of the day. Churchill, by himself, without even consulting his cabinet, refused to accept such arguments and brushed aside whatever Hess had proposed.

The question which is looming large behind the 500 pages of this well-researched book (and also behind the many others written on this subject) is why Churchill was so adamant in his negative attitude, whether he was aware of the possibly horrible consequences of his position, and to what extent he condoned the scenario that he was conjuring up. These are questions of political morality and in a way it would seem that the incessant preoccupation of British authors with our subject reflects the unease they are feeling with respect to major and in the end catastrophic decisions taken in their name and over their heads by less than a handful of people in Whitehall.

The authors of Double Standards" devote several pages to a discussion of the tragedies on all sides that could have been avoided if Hess' mission had been a success. With a marvellously tongue-in-cheek attitude they also consider, side by side, the kind of Europe that, in 1941, would have resulted from a reasonable peace, and the political structure we see emerging today in the same geographical area, finding little to choose between the two.

Such, then, is the backdrop against which the scenes of this tragedy are played out. Fate has it that once the two mighty monarchies confront each other across the perilous narrow ocean, there ensues an inexorable march to doom despite the courageous efforts of many noble souls on either side; there is a climax at which point the scales could have been tipped either way, there is the terrible act where the battle's lost and won, and there is the pitiful finale, with murders most foul and ghosts that will not go away.

In their description of Rudolf Hess, the four authors, like so many captains, bear him to centre stage and seem to say that, had he been put on, he would have proved most royal. With this regard it matters but little whether his final resting place is at Wunsiedel, next to his parents, or in Scottish soil, next to the poor fellows who may have crashed with him on Eagles Rock.

But who is that double???.......2002-09-24

It remains an intriguing fact: the trip of Rudolf Hess to England. There were no indications that he was mad (at least not madder than the other nazi leaders) and all of a sudden he decides to fly to England to start the peace negotiations...

The authors write a very stout book to investigate what happened or what could have happened. And that is my major problem with the book: on the basis of a number of very flimsy clues they draw far-reaching conclusions which they then present as the only possible truth in the rest of the book. They then use those conclusions as the basis for even more far-fetched conclusions etc.

I also think that there is more to the flight of Hess than the ravings of a lunatic, but this book is a very easy way to come with a fantastic story. And the major conclusion (the person in Spandau prison was a double of the real Rudolf Hess who died in WW 2) is not supported by the evidence presented in this book.

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Uncertainty stalks Octavio Paz. In Light of India is Paz's return to issues addressed in his poems of India that were inspired by his residence there three decades earlier. The paradoxes of a troubled nation are persistent, and Paz revisits the unfathomable facets of India with an eye on his Mexican homeland. Beneath the sensuous veneer of modern India lies a complex lattice of religious tendrils that reach into and influence Indian history, society, literature, and art. Paz follows these tendrils as well as anyone can, piecing together a nation of beauty, profundity, and enigma. Profundity aside, if Paz were writing about dust particles, he'd be worth reading.

Book Description

“One of the most brilliant and original essayists in any language” (Washington Post Book World) reflects on the six years he spent in India as Mexican ambassador-and reveals how the people and culture of that extraordinary land changed his life. Translated by Eliot Weinberger.

Customer Reviews:

Lyrical remembrance of time spent in India by a poet.......2007-07-08

This book is a lyrical remembrance of the time spent in India by Octavio Paz, a celebrated poet, who served briefly as an attaché in the Mexican embassy in India. It is a fascinating exposition of the country's landscape, history and the rich tapestry of culture. In spite of being caught between two worlds, his native Mexico and India, which assumes mythic proportions, he notices such a plethora of details.

"The Antipodes of Coming and Going" is a poetic journal of his days in India. He notices with such clarity the extraordinary richness of sight, sound, smells and effect of India. "Religions, Castes, Language" gives an overview of India but has some factual errors. The occassional factual errors like "The British Empire, for the first time in Indian history, united all the people under its domain, something their predecessors-the Maurya, the Guptas, the Mughals-could never achieve" doesn't bother at all.

"A Project of Nationhood" is where Paz compares Islamic,Hindu and Western civilization in their relation to India. This and the last section "The Full and the Empty" where he celebrates the soul of India - these two sections reveal the genius of Paz.

His last question "In what time do we live"? is ever relevant in India.

In search of India -- through the lens of a Mexican poet.......2003-07-31

This book is an odd medley of genres and has a distinct "entre deux mondes" quality. It briefly starts as a travelogue, as Octavio Paz, describes his sea journey during the 1950s from his diplomatic posting at the Mexican Embassy in Paris to his first assignment in India where he would later return, in the 1960s, as Mexican ambassador. In many ways, I enjoyed these thirty odd first pages, replete with images from the crossing of the Suez Canal to the docks of Bombay and over rail tracks to Delhi, much more than the rest of the book.

The bulk of the book is an impressionistic, enigmatic, and often confusing essay on Indian society, religion, castes, languages,and cosmology. Many of these difficult topics are treated too superficially for this book to be a serious historical or sociological analysis of India. While not the central thrust of this book, comparisons between Indian and Mexican history become inevitable as, for example, when Paz considers different outcomes from what he sees as a common experience in Mexico and India of an indigenous polytheistic culture colliding with an invading monotheistic faith. Or when he analyzes the impact of what he sees as two secular institutions supposedly brought to India and Mexico by colonizing forces - the civil service and army. It is rare for two important, but spatially and historically distant civilizations, to be analyzed next to each other in such a personal way. The reader will not escape a sense of forced comparisons by the author of very different historical and social settings.

But the author does not claim rigor in his analysis of India, acknowledging that "this is not a systematic study, but a more or less ordered gathering of the reflections, impressions, and objections that India provoked in me." For the reader who can view these impressions of India from a Mexican diplomat and Nobel laureate in literature on a less obvious level, this self-conscious disavowal of profound insight into India makes the book intriguing. The author may shed less light on India than he does on his native Mexico,or Latin America, more generally. Perhaps, this is his real intention.

The final pages return to the biographical style at the beginning of the book, giving glimpses into how Octavio Paz historically situates demands for political reforms which were emerging in Mexico in the late 1960s, from his vantage point in India. Ultimately, these political convulsions in Mexico, notably the student riots, culminate in his resignation as a representative of the Mexican Government in India. "I decided I could no longer represent a government that was operating in a manner so clearly opposite to my way of thinking."

Readers of his classic on Mexican society "The Labyrinth of Solitude" will sense echoes in "Light of India" which Octavio Paz concludes with a short and tender poetic swan song to his diplomatic assignment in India, invoking the Hindu deities Shiva and Parvati.

A poetic Journey.......2001-07-08

Octavio Paz has recorded his experience in India in a great way. I simply call it poetic. Because of the great distance between Mexcio and India, there has been very little interaction between these countries. The linguistic difference has not helped either. Therfore a book by Paz on India from his eyes as a Mexcican, is welcomme addition to the literature. It is definitley a book to have and cherish.

A book that bridges continents.......2000-12-22

"In Light of India" is a book-length, multi-part essay in which Mexican poet Octavio Paz discusses the complex political, religious, and artistic worlds of India. Paz, who had served as his nation's ambassador to India, writes with insight and obvious affection for his subject.

Paz is a masterful prose writer. His style is smooth and clear, and full of sage-like statements. Consider this observation: "Dialogue between a poet and a saint is difficult because a poet, before speaking, must hear others--that is to say, the language, which belongs to everyone and to no one. A saint speaks with God or with himself, two forms of silence" (p. 118).

Paz covers many topics: India's ancient history, the conflict between Hindus and Muslims, the caste system, classical Sanskrit poetry, and more. But, as he notes, the book is not meant to be an exhaustive scholarly treatise. Rather, it is a very personal view of India: "this book. . . is the child not of knowledge but of love" (33). And as such, the book is rich in interesting anecdotes and fascinating insights, from Paz' account of his meeting with the guru Mother Ananda Mai to his reflection on the influence of Rabindranath Tagore upon Pablo Neruda.

"In Light of India" is a marvelous companion volume to Salman Rushdie's "The Jaguar Smile": in that volume of essays, a writer from the Indian subcontinent reflects upon a Latin American country (the reverse of Paz' project). But on its own, Paz' book is a wonderful volume both for fans of Latin American literature and for those interested in India.

Just brilliant........1999-10-25

A welcome change to see things through a great poet's eye. Brilliant comparisons of the cultures of two great countries Mexico and India, a culture that died and a culture that still lives and is thriving.

The Hungry Woman: The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea
<i>and</i> Heart of the Earth: A Popul Vuh Story

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The Hungry Woman: The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea and Heart of the Earth: A Popul Vuh Story
Cherríe L. Moraga
Manufacturer: West End Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 097053440X

Book Description

In The Hungry Woman, an apocalyptic play written at the end of the millennium, Moraga uses mythology and an intimate realism to describe the embattled position of Chicanos and Chicanas, not only in the United States but in relation to each other. Drawing from the Greek Medea and the myth of La Llorona, she portrays a woman gone mad between her longing for another woman and for the Indian nation which is denied her.

In Heart of the Earth, a feminist revisioning of the QuichÃ© Maya Popul Vuh story, Moraga creates an allegory for contemporary Chicanismo in which the enemy is white, patriarchal, and greedy for hearts, both female and fecund. Through humor and inventive tale twisting, Moraga brings her vatos locos home from the deadly underworld to reveal that the real power of creation is found in the masa Grandma is grinding up in her metate. The script, a collaboration with master puppet maker Ralph Lee, was created for the premiere production of the play at The Public Theater in New York in 1994.

Book Description

"No [other] book provides such a thorough and enjoyable history of the United States-Mexico boundary, which plays a significant role in peoples' lives every day." --Robert J. Czerniak, Professor and Chair of Geography, New Mexico State University The Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo, which officially ended the U.S.-Mexican War in 1848, cost Mexico half its territory, while the United States gained land that became California, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Because the new United States-Mexico border ran through territory that was still incompletely mapped, the treaty also called for government commissions from both nations to locate and mark the boundary on the ground. This book documents the accomplishments of both the U.S. and the Mexican Boundary Commissions that mapped the boundary between 1849 and 1857, as well as the fifty-four pairs of maps produced by their efforts and the ongoing importance of these historical maps in current boundary administration. Paula Rebert explores how, despite the efforts of both commissions to draw neutral, scientific maps, the actual maps that resulted from their efforts reflected the differing goals and outlooks of the two countries. She also traces how the differences between the U.S. and Mexican maps have had important consequences for the history of the boundary.

Inherit the earth;: Stories from Mexican ranch life

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Inherit the earth;: Stories from Mexican ranch life
Alvin J Gordon
Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006AYL7M

Mirrors Beneath the Earth: Short Fiction by Chicano Writers

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REVIEW QUOTES

Mirrors Beneath the Earth: Short Fiction by Chicano Writers

Manufacturer: Curbstone Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anthologies | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anthologies | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1880684020

Book Description

an anthology of both established and new writers

Customer Reviews:

REVIEW QUOTES.......2001-09-07

This historic and unique collection of contemporary Chicano fiction features not only established figures such as Sandra Cisneros, Rudolpho Anaya, Denise Chavez and Ana Castillo, but a vanguard of exciting new writers such as Daniel Romero, Patricia Blanco, Ana Baca and others.

"...a wonderful collection whose strenght is increased by the uniform quality of the stories and the fine writing throughout." --The British Bulletin

"Virtually every notable Chicano prose fiction writer is represented in the anthology." --World Literature Today

Book Description

Mexican limnological studies, with a long and honorable history of about 100 years, have in recent times gained importance in teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and research. Rapid industrialization and urbanization have resulted in pollution in many inland waterbodies, some of which have even intentionally been made into terrestrial zones. In order to halt further deterioration in natural epicontinental waterbodies in Mexico, the National Association of Limnology was formed in 1997 with a modest membership of 200 workers from all over the Mexican Republic. Under the auspices of this august association, the first National Limnological Conference was organized during 1999. Some of the works presented during the conference have been included in the present proceedings. Some additional works not presented during the conference were also considered for inclusion in order to give a broad vision of limnological research in Mexico. The present volume comprises aspects of both basic and applied limnology. They include works on physical, chemical, and biological limnology, as well as experimental approaches in selected areas.Contributions from investigators regarding aquatic conservation and biodiversity were specifically not available and therefore, these aspects are considered in various included works. Most manuscripts deal with lentic aquatic resources. This is not surprising since Mexican limnology followed the general study trend of that from temperate limnology. Despite this, we must emphasize that lotic resources in Mexico are quite important both locally and regionally. This does not mean that rivers are not under limnological research in Mexico, just that their study has only recently begun. It is the intention of the volume to stimulate a larger section of limnologists to further research in this field. It is to be hoped that policy-framing governmental authorities in Mexico will benefit from it, and consider some of the aspects described so that further damage to the epicontinental waterbodies can be halted, and remedial measures can be considered in the future.

And the Earth Did Not Devour Him, with Related Readings (Glencoe Literature Library)

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And the Earth Did Not Devour Him, with Related Readings (Glencoe Literature Library)
Tomas Rivera
Manufacturer: Glencoe McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Spanish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Readers | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0028179781

As If Jesus Walked on Earth: Cardenismo, Sonora, and the Mexican Revolution (Latin American Silhouettes)

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As If Jesus Walked on Earth: Cardenismo, Sonora, and the Mexican Revolution (Latin American Silhouettes)
Adrian A. Bantjes
Manufacturer: SR Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

Revolutionary | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

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Social Policy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Federal Government | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0842026533

Book Description

Conservatives branded him a communist traitor, a dangerous radical importing exotic idealogies that ultimately would destroy the concepts of private property, the family, and religion. However, to the Indians, working class, and the poor, he was a virtual

Geology of the Mexican Republic (Aapg Studies in Geology)

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Geology of the Mexican Republic (Aapg Studies in Geology)
Dante J. Moran-Zenteno
Manufacturer: American Association of Petroleum Geologists
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

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