Treating And Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders: What We Know And What We Don't Know, A Research Agenda For Improving The Mental Health Of Our Youth (A Research Agenda)

By B. Timothy Walsh

Book Overview

Following on the heels of the widely acclaimed A Guide to Treatments That Work (OUP, 2002) by Nathan and Gorman, Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders brings together a distinguished group of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to provide a groundbreaking, evidence-based survey of treatments and preventions for adolescents with mental health disorders.

The book, the very first to disseminate the findings of the Adolescent Mental Health Initiative sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, addresses the current state of our knowledge about various mental health disorders in the teenage years, a developmental period when behavior and the brain are still "plastic." Here, six commissions established by the Sunnylands Trust and APPC pool their expertise on adolescent anxiety, schizophrenia, substance use disorders, depression and bipolar disorders, eating disorders, and suicide in sections that thoroughly define each disorder, outline and assess available treatments, discuss prevention strategies, and suggest a research agenda based on what we know and don't yet know about these various conditions.

As a meaningful counterpoint to its primary focus on mental illness, the volume also incorporates the latest research from a seventh commission-on positive youth development--which addresses how we can fully prepare young people to be happy and successful throughout their lives. Concluding chapters discuss other critical issues of particular relevance: the stigma of mental illness, the role of primary-care doctors and school-based mental health professionals in the detection and treatment of adolescent mental health problems, and the research, policy, and practice context for the delivery of evidence-based treatments. Integrating the work of eminent scholars in both psychology and psychiatry, this work will be an essential volume for academics and practicing clinicians and will serve as a wake-up call to mental health professionals and policy makers alike about the state of our nation's response to the needs of adolescents with mental disorders.

The Association of American Publishers' 2005 Award Winner for Excellence in Professional and Scholarly Publishing--Clinical Medicine

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195173643
• ISBN13: 9780195173642
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 864 Pages
• Weight: 4.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.6" x 10.1" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive Work on Adolescence

This hardbound tome (818 pages total) is an invaluable reference for the mental health professional who works with adolescents. It was a an impressive project , the Adolescent Mental Health Initiative, sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation and the Annenberg Public Policy Center that addressed what is known about mental health disorders in the adolescent years. Six commissions with distinguished scholars contributed their expertise on adolescent depression and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders and youth suicide. Each section is clear and thorough conceptually and also provides various treatment modalities and prevention strategies. There are also helpful graphs and charts incorporated throughout. This book has current research, lucid summaries and conclusions. In addition to the main focus of mental illness, this book includes the important work of the seventh commission---Beyond Disorder, the positive perspective on youth development which deals with how we can help our youth prepare to lead happy successful lives. The final chapters deal with the stigma of mental illness, the role of primary care doctors and the role of the front-line people who deal with adolescents: school-based mental health professionals. This work is valuable not only for the scholars, the clinicians and the parents of adolescents but the policy makers who make the decisions affecting the lives of our youth.