Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008, Susan Gubar underwent radical debulking surgery, an attempt to excise the cancer by removing part or all of many organs in the lower abdomen. Her memoir mines the deepest levels of anguish and devotion as she struggles to come to terms with her body 's betrayal and the frightful protocols of contemporary medicine. She finds solace in the abiding love of her husband, children, and friends while she searches for understanding in works of literature, visual art, and the testimonies of others who suffer with various forms of cancer. Ovarian cancer remains an incurable disease for most of those diagnosed, even those lucky enough to find caring and skilled physicians. Memoir of a Debulked Woman is both a polemic against the ineffectual and injurious medical responses to which thousands of women are subjected and a meditation on the gifts of companionship, art, and literature that sustain people in need.

"Stephen Heywood was twenty-nine years old when he learned that he was dying of ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease. Almost overnight his older brother, Jamie, turned himself into a genetic engineer in a quixotic race to cure the incurable. His Brother's Keeper is a powerful account of their story, as they travel together to the edge of medicine." "The book brings home for all of us the hopes and fears of the new biology. In this narrative, Jonathan Weiner gives us a portrait of science and medicine today. We learn about gene therapy, stem cells, brain vaccines, and other novel treatments for such nerve-death diseases as ALS, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's - diseases that afflict millions, and touch the lives of many more." It turns out that the author has a personal stake in the story as well. When he met the Heywood brothers, his own mother was dying of a rare nerve-death disease. The Heywoods' gene therapist offered to try to save her, too.

The New Yorker is, of course, a bastion of superb essays, influential investigative journalism, and insightful arts criticism. But for eighty years it’s also been a hoot. Now an uproarious sampling of its funny writings can be found in this collection, by turns satirical and witty, misanthropic and menacing. From the 1920s onward—but with a special focus on the latest generation—here are the humorists who have set the pace and stirred the pot, pulled the leg and pinched the behind of America. The comic lineup includes Christopher Buckley, Ian Frazier, Veronica Geng, Garrison Keillor, Steve Martin, Susan Orlean, Simon Rich, David Sedaris, Calvin Trillin, and many others. If laughter is the best medicine, Disquiet, Please! is truly a wonder drug.

A guide to moral questions, present techniques and future possibilities.

In Singular Intimacies, which the New England Journal of Medicine said captured the essence of becoming and being a doctor, Danielle Ofri led us into the hectic, constantly challenging world of big-city medicine. In Incidental Findings, she's finished her training and is learning through practice to become a more rounded healer. The book opens with a dramatic tale of the tables being turned on Dr. Ofri: She's had to shed the precious white coat and credentials she worked so hard to earn and enter her own hospital as a patient. She experiences the real slight prick and pressure of a long needle as well as the very real sense of invasion and panic that routinely visits her patients. These fifteen intertwined tales include Living Will, where Dr. Ofri treats a man who has lost the will to live, and she too comes dangerously close to concluding that he has nothing to live for; Common Ground, in which a patient's difficult decision to have an abortion highlights the vulnerabilities of doctor and patient alike; Acne, where she is confronted by a patient whose physical and emotional abuse she can't possibly heal, so she must settle on treating the one thing she can, the least of her patient's problems; and finally a stunning concluding chapter, Tools of the Trade, where Dr. Ofri's touch is the last in a woman's long life.

A healing path using the power of dreams, theater, poetry, and shamanism • Shows how psychological realizations can cause true transformation when manifested by concrete poetic acts • Includes many examples of the surreal but successful actions Jodorowsky has prescribed to those seeking his help While living in Mexico, Alejandro Jodorowsky became familiar with the colorful and effective cures provided by folk healers. He realized that it is easier for the unconscious to understand the language of dreams than that of rationality. Illness can even be seen as a physical dream that reveals unresolved emotional and psychological problems. Psychomagic presents the shamanic and genealogical principles Jodorowsky discovered to create a healing therapy that could use the powers of dreams, art, and theater to empower individuals to heal wounds that in some cases had traveled through generations. The concrete and often surreal poetic actions Jodorowsky employs are part of an elaborate strategy intended to break apart the dysfunctional persona with whom the patient identifies in order to connect with a deeper self. That is when true transformation can manifest. For a young man who complained that he lived only in his head and was unable to grab hold of reality and advance toward the financial autonomy he desired, Jodorowsky gave the prescription to paste two gold coins to the soles of his shoes so that all day he would be walking on gold. A judge whose vanity was ruling his every move was given the task of dressing like a tramp and begging outside one of the fashionable restaurants he loved to frequent while pulling glass doll eyes out of his pockets. The lesson for him was that if a tramp can fill his pockets with eyeballs, then they must be of no value, and thus the eyes of others should have no bearing on who you are and what you do. Taking his patients directly at their words, Jodorowsky takes the same elements associated with a negative emotional charge and recasts them in an action that will make them positive and enable them to pay the psychological debts hindering their lives.

The Illustrated Manual of Sex Therapy reviews the nature and causes of male and female sexual dysfunctions, and describes and portrays the various erotic techniques and exercises employed in sex therapy. This highly practical manual is an indispensable guide to the nature and causes of the six major sexual dysfunctions - inhibited female excitement, female orgastic dysfunction, vaginismus, impotence, retarded ejaculation, and premature ejaculation - and the therapeutic sexual techniques used in overcoming them. The clear, accessible language and exquisitely rendered drawings combine to make this book an essential addition to the libraries of practitioners, teachers, and students of medicine and psychology- and most important, of those who experience sexual dysfunction themselves.

In this compassionate and powerful healing guide, Dr. Bernie Siegel, the author of the triumphant bestsellers Love, Medicine & Miracles and Peace, Love & Healing , provides readers with healthy ways to respond to life's adversities.

'This crazy redhead is on to something. Her pink Rambler story alone is worth the price of the book.' -- Elmore Leonard 'Amy Alkon is intellectually promiscuous--and funny as hell.' -- Paleopsychologist Howard Bloom, author of The Lucifer Principle We all just suck it up every day. You leave the house for a latte and somebody'll flip you the bird on your way and force their loud cellphone conversation on you once you're there. It doesn't have to be that way, says award-winning syndicated columnist Amy Alkon. Her hilarious stories of her in-your-face encounters with rude people and businesses will inspire you to stand up to the boors in your own world. Alkon not only gives the offenders a taste of their own medicine, she delves into anthropology, psychology, and behavioral science to figure out why we're rude and how we can stop all the intruding, shoving, and shouting. She ensures that all these rude people get their comeuppance: -Lax parents -Internet bullies -Rude drivers -Negligent businesses -Telemarketing executives -Car thieves -Parking space hogs -That loud jerk in the drugstore line In this funny, ferocious and freewheeling expose, Alkon gives you the tools you need to confront these abusers and restore common courtesy, respect and good manners to society...one chastened cellphone shouter at a time.

It was clear from an early age that Dexter Procter was different. He started speaking at four seconds old. By the age of three, he had 87 A-levels, from Afrikaans to Zoology. And by ten, he was working as a paediatrician at Lilydale General Hospital. Despite a loving but annoying family and a couple of good friends (Rupi and Otto), Dexter's always struggled to fit in. Add to this a mortal enemy (Dr Drake) and a major problem at his old school (all the teachers struck down with awful diarrhoea) - will Dexter be able to save his job, save the school and find his place in the world? (Spoiler alert- yes!) A laugh-out-loud new fiction series about the world's youngest doctor from the record-breaking Adam Kay and Henry Paker. 'Original, very funny, ultra-informative - and children will love all the disgusting parts.' Jacqueline Wilson 'If laughter truly is the best medicine, book this hilarious appointment with Dr Procter immediately.' David Baddiel

Pills replaced the couch; neuroscience took the place of talk therapy; and as psychoanalysis faded from the scene, so did the castrating mothers and hysteric spinsters of Freudian theory. Or so the story goes. In Prozac on the Couch , psychiatrist Jonathan Michel Metzl boldly challenges recent psychiatric history, showing that there’s a lot of Dr. Freud encapsulated in late-twentieth-century psychotropic medications. Providing a cultural history of treatments for depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses through a look at the professional and popular reception of three “wonder drugs”—Miltown, Valium, and Prozac—Metzl explains the surprising ways Freudian gender categories and popular gender roles have shaped understandings of these drugs. Prozac on the Couch traces the notion of “pills for everyday worries” from the 1950s to the early twenty-first century, through psychiatric and medical journals, popular magazine articles, pharmaceutical advertisements, and popular autobiographical "Prozac narratives.” Metzl shows how clinical and popular talk about these medications often reproduces all the cultural and social baggage associated with psychoanalytic paradigms—whether in a 1956 Cosmopolitan article about research into tranquilizers to “cure” frigid women; a 1970s American Journal of Psychiatry ad introducing Jan, a lesbian who “needs” Valium to find a man; or Peter Kramer’s description of how his patient “Mrs. Prozac” meets her husband after beginning treatment. Prozac on the Couch locates the origins of psychiatry’s “biological revolution” not in the Valiumania of the 1970s but in American popular culture of the 1950s. It was in the 1950s, Metzl points out, that traditional psychoanalysis had the most sway over the American imagination. As the number of Miltown prescriptions soared (reaching 35 million, or nearly one per second, in 1957), advertisements featuring uncertain brides and unfaithful wives miraculously cured by the “new” psychiatric medicines filled popular magazines. Metzl writes without nostalgia for the bygone days of Freudian psychoanalysis and without contempt for psychotropic drugs, which he himself regularly prescribes to his patients. What he urges is an increased self-awareness within the psychiatric community of the ways that Freudian ideas about gender are entangled in Prozac and each new generation of wonder drugs. He encourages, too, an understanding of how ideas about psychotropic medications have suffused popular culture and profoundly altered the relationship between doctors and patients.

The Ultimate Guide to Identifying, Treating, and Overcoming Depression and Anxiety Two world-renowned psychiatrists have created a comprehensive and empowering guide to the science and treatment of anxiety and depression. At the heart of their message is the idea that treatment can and must be tailored to the individual and that armed with the right information, patients can get the support they need from their health-care providers. Practical and authoritative, The Peace of Mind Prescription has been unanimously praised as a valuable resource that offers hope to millions of sufferers. Dennis S. Charney, M.D., is the Dean of Research and the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor in the departments of psychiatry, neuroscience, and pharmacology and biochemistry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D., is the Reunette W. Harris Professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University's School of Medicine.

How Sex and Gender Impact Clinical Practice: An Evidence-Based Guide to Patient Care , Second Edition , is an essential resource for primary care clinicians seeking to integrate sex and gender differences into their practice. This edition emphasizes the unique framework that assists practitioners in providing personalized care. It aligns sex and gender medicine with precision medicine, helping healthcare providers attract patients who value clinicians that understand the nuances of sex and gender in healthcare. How Sex and Gender Impact Clinical Practice: An Evidence-Based Guide to Patient Care , Second Edition , includes updates on the evidence-based information on disease prevalence, diagnosis, testing, and treatment, as well as a new chapter on the sex and gender aspects of pain. Each chapter reflects how sex and gender impact disease presentation, physical examination, testing, treatment, and clinical decision-making.

A 50th Anniversary Edition of Thomas Szasz’s famous, influential critique of the field of psychiatry, with a new preface on the age of Prozac, Ritalin, and the rise of designer drugs.

In this book the author suggests that the techniques and aims of psychotherapy are open to abuse. He regards it as self-evident that the therapist makes demands on the patient that cannot be fulfilled and that the financial exigencies of the relationship are open to corruption. Masson sets out to show that abuse of one form or another is built into the very fabric of psychotherapy, that it is the nature of therapy to distort another person's reality and that since it is the therapist's task to change people this can only be done according to the therapists' own notions and prejudices, so the psychological process is necessarily corrupt.

Psychiatric, or psychosocial, palliative care has transformed palliative medicine. Palliation that neglects psychosocial dimensions of patient and family experience fails to meet contemporary standards of comprehensive palliative care. While a focus on somatic issues has sometimes overshadowed attention to psychological, existential, and spiritual end-of-life challenges, the past decade has seen an all encompassing, multi-disciplinary approach to care for the dying take hold. Written by internationally known psychiatry and palliative care experts, the Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine is an essential reference for all providers of palliative care, including psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health counselors, oncologists, hospice workers, and social workers.

“Like all doctors, I collect stories…” From one of America’s most renowned and beloved doctors, and best-selling winner of the National Book Award, comes a remarkable book that brings together the stories of doctors collected over 30 years. Each of these tales, filled with grace and wisdom, explores the mysteries and conundrums of modern medicine. Enhanced by Sherwin Nuland’s keen insight into the special relationship between doctor and patient, these engrossing stories illustrate the judgment, wisdom, and character of veteran doctors who have mastered the art of care-giving. Taken together, the lessons learned from The Soul of Medicine are as moving and profound as they are timeless. “A beautiful book.” — Oliver Sacks “Nuland is a gifted storyteller, bringing his doctors…brilliantly to life.” — John Irving

This book focuses on the personalities in the history of medicine.

Discusses the history of the use of plants to heal disease, looks at how Western societies have reacted to natural medicines, and includes a catalog of over one hundred healing herbs.

The aim of the book is to provide a comprehensive General Practice text book which takes a contemporary, integrative approach to diagnosis, investigation and management of health issues and disease states encountered in the general practice environment. The book will cover the philosophy underpinning general practice in the 21st Century, and deal with primary and secondary prevention as well as acute and chronic disease management. General Practice: The Integrative Approach will inform doctors as fully as possible about potential treatment and prevention options, as well as potential pitfalls according to the growing evidence base in this area. The book is directed at best practice rather than alternative practice. The first section of the textbook lays the foundations and principles of Integrative Medicine and the second section examines important medical conditions in a systems based approach. Each chapter begins by detailing the allopathic medical and consulting knowledge required of a standard GP text, discussing physiology and pharmacological management plans of systems-based conditions. The chapter then leads into an evidence-based discussion of the therapeutic options available for the treatment of associated factors, essentially providing practitioners with the knowledge required to adapt their approach to meet the needs of the individual patient. A national panel of experts with experience in Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, nutritional medicine, naturopathy, and exercise therapy have contributed to their various fields of expertise to incorporate management plans that utilise a variety of therapeutic modalities to achieve the best clinical outcome. . incorporates evidence-based and safe therapies including conventional medical care, lifestyle interventions and complementary therapies . is directed at best practice rather than alternative practice . focuses on prevention and health promotion . a symptomatic layout matching the approach of contemporary medical curriculum . each therapeutic modality and therapeutics contributor is coded with an icon for easy modality reference . a unique chapter covering medico-legal issues . a ready reference herb/drug interaction chart . expert authors include Dr Kerryn Phelps, well-known Australian medical practitioner and President of the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA)