I recently received a press release about HealthBookSummaries.com, a new website that provides condensed summaries of health books for free.
Always interested in freebies, I registered (yes, you have to register), sent an email about the site to three of my friends (you get a free copy of Natural Appetite Suppressants for Safe, Effective Weight Loss when you do), and then began browsing the free books.
So far, the library only consists of a handful of health books, and I didn’t see any that are directly related to mental illness; however, I did find a few that were related to mental health, …read more

Hey everyone, the contest results are in!
AngieLov is the winner of a copy of Dr. David Clarke’s They Can’t Find Anything Wrong! 7 Keys to Understanding, Treating, and Healing Stress Illness!
Thanks to everyone who entered (and especially to those of you who increased your odds by entering more than once!), and stay tuned for another book giveaway next week!

Image: Dr. David Clarke/Sentient Publications

In July 1993, after a tumultuous relationship filled with emotions from each end of the spectrum and everywhere in between, C. Comfort Shields’s college boyfriend and first true love, Ben, drove from Washington, D.C. to Maine and shot himself in the head, completing the suicide he’d been flirting with since she met him 18 months before.
What Shields didn’t really know at the time, however, was that the 18 months she knew Ben was just the tail end of a mental hurricane that had spiraled so out of control no amount of love from anyone could have kept Ben alive. How …read more

It took me much longer than I anticipated to read Bruce Goldstein’s Puppy Chow Is Better Than Prozac – The True Story Of A Man And The Dog Who Saved His Life. Not because the book was a difficult read (on the contrary, it was quite an easy read, especially given Goldstein’s conversational writing tone) and not because I didn’t like it (I did like it). It took me so long to read the book because once I sat down to read, I was completely engrossed.
So, I quickly learned that I could only curl up with Puppy Chow Is Better …read more

Last week, I published an interview with Dr. David Clarke regarding his professional experiences with stress illness and his book on the subject, They Can’t Find Anything Wrong!: 7 Keys to Understanding, Treating, and Healing Stress Illness.
This week, Dr. Clarke, Sentient Publications, and I are offering you the chance to win your own copy of They Can’t Find Anything Wrong!
To enter the contest, you must:

Be at least 18 years old and live in the continental United States
Leave a comment on this blog post giving an example of one side effect of stress you’ve experienced. The side effect can be mental …read more

Today’s Mental Health Notes post is a treat indeed, as I was able to interview Dr. David Clarke, author of They Can’t Find Anything Wrong!: 7 Keys to Understanding, Treating, and Healing Stress Illness.
Dr. Clarke defines “stress illness” as an illness that is caused by various kinds of life stresses, both past and present.
Read on as Dr. Clarke explains how we can spot, diagnosis, and treat stress illness; provides suggestions on how to deal with doctors who may not appropriately handle stress illness; and offers eight little words that can change the way you look at your health.

Mental Health Notes: …read more

I can’t believe I just discovered this.
And, in all honesty, I didn’t discover it. My mother, who’s obsessed with freebies, discovered it.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers tons of mental health publications, brochures, posters, notepads, and cards for you to order – for free.
I know, I was ecstatic, too.
And why I say “tons,” I mean tons. From anti-stigma posters to advocacy magnets to useful notepads to informational brochures, SAMHSA has it covered.
These are excellent items for everyone – mental health consumers and their loved ones, mental health advocates, and mental health professionals – so visit their …read more