Lives at Risk: Understanding and Treating Young People with Dual Disorders - Hardcover

Ryglewicz, Hilary; Pepper, Bert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684828073 ISBN 13: 9780684828077

Publisher: The Free Press, 1996

Synopsis

Lives at Risk addresses a population of concern: young men and women in early adulthood who are stalled and endangered by problems of mental illness and/or personality disorders combined with substance abuse. Through four vividly presented cases, the authors trace the complexities of the problems, define subgroups of the population, and discuss what can be done in contemporary treatment. They then explore current frontiers of knowledge and thinking about the brain, personality disorder and immaturity, and the biopsychosocial perspective as a means for addressing problematic thinking, feeling, and behavior. A final section offers an overview of the circumstances of contemporary managed mental health care, a concept for the redesign of services, and guidelines targeted for clinicians, administrators, family members, client/consumers themselves, and social advocates.
Through the stories of "Bill," "Annie," and "Darell," the authors probe the dimensions of a multifaceted human and social problem: young adults in our society who are not "making it," who cannot begin to function independently because of a range of mental and emotional disorders. The three young adults discussed are very different from each other; what they have in common is their position as "society's children" - who become society's dependents. They present a mounting challenge to themselves, to their families, and to our education, public assistance, criminal justice, mental health, and substance abuse treatment systems. They are, the authors argue, anybody's children. Lives at Risk is a book for everyone who cares about society and its future.

About this title

From the Author

This book was writter for therapists and family members
There are 10 million individuals with a diagnosable mental health disorder who also abuse or are dependent on a drug of abuse. 90% developed their mental disorder first. Substance abuse came a few years later for most.Since each affects parents, siblings and loved ones, there are 40 million persons affected. Yet this is a 'silent problem' in the media, because of double stigma. The federal mental health and substance abuse agencies are virtually silent on the topic. Why? Treatment can be effective when begun early. This book was written to tell how.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Free Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684828073
• ISBN 13: 9780684828077
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 264