Email | Print

Addressed primarily to those caring for individuals with mental illness, Away From the Field Now and Then: A History Behind the History in the Treatment of Mental Health is a 110,000-word study of the history and treatment of mental illness. My approach takes readers as far back as Egyptian civilization as it describes in detail ancient Egypt's approach toward the treatment of the mentally ill. Ancient Greek civilization is also examined for the interest philosophers of that era placed on the study and understanding of mental illness.

Away From the Field emphasizes with in-depth detail the three different periods of world mental health historical data stemming from the medieval period, throughout the enlightened and the modern periods. It explores the life and history of influential historical figures and institutions in the mental health field, including: the legend of Saint Dymphna of Belgium (c.1200 A.D); Bedlam, England; the challenges that early pioneers like Dorothea Dix, Clifford Bears and Florence Nightingale encountered while trying to make changes; and Sigmund Freud's magnificent contributions, which are still used in the field today. The book also highlights important topics of the growth and changes in treatment throughout the years, thus projecting on future research studies and approaches to treatment.

Away From the Field revisits the origins of nursing and early beginnings of mental health treatment prior to nursing, rational understanding, psychoanalysis, or medications. The study also uncovers and details of the arduous historical struggle to convince general hospitals to accept mental illness as a legitimate physiological illness and provides an in depth historical profile on the world's first psychiatrist and psychiatric hospital, first social worker, first patient advocate and first documented case of mental illness.

Lastly, I note the stigma long associated with mental illness and the mentally ill, and how the uninformed public affects those suffering with chronic mental illness. Through my emphasis on self-advocacy, outpatient treatment approaches, and the importance of proper administration of medication, I stress the importance of patients' involvement in their own recovery. Most importantly, I encourage mental health providers to view the mentally ill individual as a human being with an illness, rather than simply another diagnosis, or a case number.