Beyond Prozac: Healing Mental Distress - Softcover

Terry Lynch

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1898059632 ISBN 13: 9781898059639

Publisher: PCCS Books, 2004

Synopsis

As a practising GP, Dr Terry Lynch was plagued by increasing doubts about his effectiveness in dealing with patients experiencing emotional distress. He no longer trusted the drugs handed out as routine treatment for so-called mental illnesses. Changes in his working practice and a training in psychotherapy culminated in the writing of his controversial and deeply felt book. Every year one million people take their own lives worldwide, and thirty million attempt suicide. Terry Lynch believes that suicide is a final act of avoidance, which in the context of the person's life always makes sense . Drawing on his wide experience as a GP and counsellor and using real case histories, the book demonstrates the common sense, but sadly controversial, idea that personal contact is a better healer than drugs.

About this title

Review

Lovelessness and loneliness cannot be explained by chemical changes in the brain and cured by the ingestion of drugs. Lovelessness and loneliness, like anxiety and depression and all the ways of expressing distress which are called mental disorder, are part of what it is to be human, but a part that can be understood, diminished and banished from our lives simply by caring wisely for ourselves. Terry Lynch understands and cares wisely for us all. His immense warmth and humanity are revealed on every page of this book. It is truly a book for our time and for all time. --Dorothy Rowe

Beyond Prozac is in my view the single most important contribution to our understaning of suicide in the past ten years ... As a statement by a qualified and practising doctor of something which many of us instinctivley know to be true, it is the vital articulation of the unsayable. --John Waters, The Irish Times

I just loved Beyond Prozac. If I ever get seriously unhappy, I'm going to camp on Terry's doorstep ... I can't speak of it too highly. If ever a man puts a human face on mental suffering and offers an optimistic message, Dr Lynch is that man. --William Glasser, MD, Psychiatrist

About the Author

Dr Terry Lynch qualified as a medical doctor in 1982. Separated from his parents at four years old, Terry lost his confidence in his teen years, becoming quite anxious, lonely and scared. Terry's personal experience of mental and emotional distress has perhaps given him some insight into the pain of others. For over ten years, he worked as a General Practitioner. During this time, he become increasingly concerned about fundamental issues such as the quality of medical training in mental health, the excessive reliance on medication to treat mental health problems, and the pervasive influence of the pharmaceutical industry on medical practice. In 1997, Dr Lynch undertook to expand his understanding of mental health problems beyond the narrow medical approach to mental health, culminating in the completion of an MA in Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy in 2002 at the University of Limerick. Fully registered with the Irish Medical Council, Terry Lynch has for many years determined to adjust and improve his working practices with the aim of maximising the quality of the service he could offer to people experiencing mental health difficulties. In 2003, he was appointed by the Irish Ministry for Health to the government-appointed Expert Group on Mental Health Policy; the remit of this group is to shape the direction of mental health policy in Ireland over the next two decades. Since the publication of his book Dr Lynch has made numerous primetime television and radio appearances, and has been widely quoted in the press.

Edition details

• Publisher: PCCS Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1898059632
• ISBN 13: 9781898059639
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 316