Amazon
Category:
Psychology
Publisher: Self
ISBN-10: 1976321387
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 140
ISBN-13: 9781976321382
Neurosis, a mental illness, affects everyone to a greater or lesser extent, yet most know little or nothing about it. This book reveals all, including incidence, signs and symptoms, cause, treatment and prevention, in lay language.
What if I told you that “there is an illness that is so common that it affects everyone to a greater or lesser extent? Yet, in spite of its omnipresence and debilitating nature, very little, if anything, is known about it by the general public”. You might respond, “It is inconceivable that an illness as common as you claim it to be would not be well documented and recognized”. Well, that illness is neurosis, a mental illness that is far more common than the other mental illness (psychosis) which is relatively rare. Psychosis is well-known and is generally thought of at the mention of the words “mental illness”. The two mental illnesses could not be more different in incidence, cause, signs and symptoms, consequences, treatment and prevention.
Much has been written about neurosis (by psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers) but nothing that is intelligible to the lay public. That is the intent of this book. Not even the signs and symptoms of neurosis are known. Imagine the consequences of not knowing that severe chest pain may be a symptom of a serious physical illness.
The treatment of neurosis is talk therapy, whereas that for psychosis is drug therapy. Regrettably, the presently employed treatment of choice for neurosis is drug therapy (tranquilizers for anxiety and anti-depressants for depression) prescribed by psychiatrists, family physicians and doctors of internal medicine. To date, there have been over 1,000 different talk therapies described in a search for an ideal therapy. Most were employed for just a brief period before they were found to be ineffectual and abandoned. A number of good short-term talk therapies are presently available; the author is partial to a little known but highly effective and potentially curative talk therapy called Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). Its mechanism of function along with an explanation of the reason it is effective, when other talk therapies may not be, is provided. Furthermore, insight is provided into the recognition of effective versus ineffective talk therapy.
Neurosis is the illness, psychic trauma in the past its cause and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) its manifestation. All are explored in detail.
Neurosis may have personal (affecting 1 person) or widespread (affecting hundreds or even millions of people) consequences. Examples of both instances are given.
A plea is made for the elimination of the stigma of mental illness, both neurosis and psychosis. Shame reduction has been achieved for tuberculosis, HIV, epilepsy and to some extent for psychosis through control by (drug) therapy .
Faulty parenting is the most common cause of psychic trauma resulting in subsequent neurosis. The usual parenting model, in spite of the parent’s best intentions, is faulty through lack of proper education, training or experience. My “Ten Commandments of Proper Parenting” is offered for consideration. It is not meant as the “Final Word” on parenting, but rather a scaffold to build upon with additions and subtractions.
Although lacking formal training in psychopathology and psychotherapy, I do have medical training, including a rotation in psychiatry in medical school. A positive experience as an ISTDP patient, extensive reading and interest in the subject of neurosis, as well as oral presentations to lay persons with very positive reception has encouraged me to share my knowledge through a book.
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