| Psychology |
| Medical |
| Mental Health |
Summary
Summary
A compelling and incisive book that questions the overuse of mental health terms to describe universal human emotions
Public awareness of mental illness has been transformed in recent years, but our understanding of how to define it has yet to catch up. Too often, psychiatric disorders are confused with the inherent stresses and challenges of human experience. A narrative has taken hold that a mental health crisis has been building among young people. In this profoundly sensitive and constructive book, psychologist Lucy Foulkes argues that the crisis is one of ignorance as much as illness. Have we raised a 'snowflake' generation? Or are today's young people subjected to greater stress, exacerbated by social media, than ever before? Foulkes shows that both perspectives are useful but limited. The real question in need of answering is: how should we distinguish between 'normal' suffering and actual illness?
Drawing on her extensive knowledge of the scientific and clinical literature, Foulkes explains what is known about mental health problems--how they arise, why they so often appear during adolescence, the various tools we have to cope with them--but also what remains unclear: distinguishing between normality and disorder is essential if we are to provide the appropriate help, but no clear line between the two exists in nature. Providing necessary clarity and nuance, Losing Our Minds argues that the widespread misunderstanding of this aspect of mental illness might be contributing to its apparent prevalence.
Author Notes
Dr. Lucy Foulkes is an academic psychologist at UCL and the Anna Freud Centre in the UK. Her research focuses on mental health and social development, particularly in adolescence. She lives in London
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
"The absence of knowledge about mental health creates a vacuum that is filled by inaccuracies and half-truths," writes psychologist Foulkes in her compassionate debut. While mental illness has become part of the mainstream conversation over the past decade thanks to destigmatization campaigns, celebrity memoirs, and global efforts such as an official World Mental Health Day, Foulkes writes, "this message to speak about our mental illness is only useful if... the person listening actually understands what the problem is." To that end, she endeavors to fill in the gaps. Destigmatization efforts, though well-intended, have made people more comfortable using mental health terms, she notes, but they've also led to a conflation between normal discomfort and disorders: people often use the term OCD flippantly, for example, without understanding what the disorder actually entails. She covers the complicated nature of diagnoses and the biological and environmental factors behind conditions, and tactfully examines reasons that mental illness rates are rising (notably because young people are more willing to talk about their problems and diagnostic criteria have expanded). Foulkes's research is thorough, and her explanations of mental health are accessible: "This topic defies any simple explanation. To recognize its complexity puts us in a far better position than pretending any of this is easy." There's plenty of insight on offer in this comprehensive survey. (Jan.)
Kirkus Review
A potent examination of mental illness and its understanding "in the research world and in society at large." British academic psychologist Foulkes addresses readers with a mix of pedagogical and colloquial language. "We know mental illness exists," she writes, "we know it's widespread, but few people really know what any of this means." The author dismantles misperceptions while sharing her thoroughly researched opinions of matters related, primarily, to depression and anxiety, and she poses questions that she seeks to answer: "What are the core deficits or issues that are familiar across many different mental illnesses?"; "What happens outside the body that increases our risk of mental illness?"; "What impact does social media really have on mental health?" Foulkes credits Dutch psychologist Denny Borsboom's network theory of mental disorders as being "the best explanation of what mental illness really 'is.' " It suggests that biological, psychological, and environmental components affect one another; eventually, this web can become self-sustaining, even after a trigger has disappeared. Not only does Foulkes relay studies, she casts through them with direct summations: "If you're ever going to develop a mental illness, more likely than not, it will start in your adolescent years." In opposition to simplistic, alarmist headlines about social media causing depression in adolescents, the author looks at longitudinal studies of not just how much time people spend on apps, but also how they use them and the ensuing underlying psychological behaviors. "I think part of the reason that social media has been so demonized boils down to one truth: it's new," she writes. Foulkes also integrates reports of current events and published personal accounts of mental suffering and healing to take aim at pop-culture language used in conversation around mental illness. Foulkes is a compassionate, rational guide through modern-day mental issues that are neither easily categorized nor treated. "Time," she writes, "teaches that recovery is not linear." Helpful to anyone interested in a deeper understanding of psychological distress. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
