San Antonio College Library

Albert Rothenberg investigates how two such opposite conditions -- outstanding creativity and psychosis -- could coexist in the same individual. Rothenberg concludes that high-level creativity transcends the usual modes of logical thought -- and may even superficially resemble psychosis. But he also discovers that all types of creative thinking generally occur in a rational and conscious frame of mind, not in a mystically altered or transformed state.Far...

Is there really a thin line between madness and genius? This book provides a thorough review of the current state of knowledge on this age old idea, and presents new empirical research to put an end to this debate, but also to open up discussion about the implications of its findings.

In Mind Fixers, Anne Harrington, author of The Cure Within, explores psychiatry's repeatedly frustrated struggle to understand mental disorder in biomedical terms. She shows how the stalling of early twentieth-century efforts in this direction allowed Freudians and social scientists to insist, with some justification, that they had better ways of analyzing and fixing minds.

An exposé of the psychiatric profession's bible from a leading psychotherapist, "The Book of Woe "reveals the deeply flawed process by which mental disorders are invented and uninvented -- and why increasing numbers of therapy patients are being declared mentally ill.

"Brilliant Harvard psychiatrist Jordan Smoller reveals the hidden side of our everyday behaviors and addresses one of society's most enduring questions: What do we mean by "normal?" And what does this tell us about "abnormal?""--

For years, physicians have advised their patients to reduce levels of serum cholesterol in order to decrease the chance of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Population studies, however, suggest that limiting cholesterol intake does not reduce overall mortality rates. Instead, although CVD rates to decrease, the incidence of violent deaths increases. These startling, if somewhat tentative, results have augmented research into a significant area:...

"In 1875 Robert Todd Lincoln caused his mother, Mary Todd Lincoln, to be committed to an insane asylum. Based on newly discovered manuscript materials, this book seeks to explain how and why. In these documents - marked by Robert Todd Lincoln as the "MTL Insanity File" - exists the only definitive record of the tragic story of Mary Todd Lincoln's insanity trial. The book that results from these letters and documents addresses several areas of controversy...

"In this book, Stephen P. Hinshaw examines the long-standing tendency to stigmatize those with mental illness. He also provides practical, multilevel strategies for overcoming this serious problem, including enlightened social policies that encourage contact with those afflicted, media coverage emphasizing their underlying humanity, family education, and responsive treatment."--Jacket.

"For more than half a century Thomas Szasz has devoted much of his career to a radical critique of psychiatry. His latest work, Psychiatry: The Science of Lies, is a culmination of his life's work: to portray the integral role of deception in the history and practice of psychiatry." "Szasz argues that the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness stands in the same relationship to the diagnosis and treatment of bodily illness that the forgery of a...

"Looking at social, evolutionary, cross cultural, and nutritional influences. Small deconstructs mental illnesses like depression and anxiety-conditions that appear in different forms and for different reasons - within the culture that defines them. By rethinking assumptions and questioning standard treatment programs, she helps us gradually relax our grip on the medical model to discover a new perspective on mental illness."--Jacket.