Despite a few unpersuasive arguments, this is a formidable entry in the field of books about the mental health crisis.
The former director of the National Institute of Mental Health diagnoses and prescribes cures for a mental health care system that’s “a disaster on many fronts.”
In his first book, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Insel explains an apparent paradox of mental health care: “Current treatments work,” but too few people get their benefits, and outcomes for the U.S. as a whole remain “dire.” Arguing that the crisis exists “because we fail to deliver on what we know, or we fail to use what works,” the author often slights evidence suggesting that the poor results persist because some common treatments do not work or are overused rather than underused. He ignores, for example, well-regarded studies that have found that depression and ADHD are overdiagnosed and overtreated, and he oversells some treatments he supports. For readers who can live with Insel’s overly bullish view of certain remedies, however, this book offers a wealth of fresh, clear, and mercifully jargon-free facts and insights into America’s mental health care problems and possible solutions. The author links the crisis to the Reagan administration’s slashing of federal spending on community health and its scaling back of support for the “deinstitutionalization” promoted by John F. Kennedy and others. He also describes the potential benefits of “supported education and employment” programs and of controversial technology like digital phenotyping. In the strongest chapters, Insel shows how current U.S. policies have ravaged the poor, the homeless, and the incarcerated; the U.S. has so few hospital beds for the mentally ill that some police do “mercy bookings,” which let people get care in jail that hospitals can’t provide: “The Los Angeles County Jail and Chicago’s Cook County Jail are now the largest mental health institutions in the nation.” Insel makes clear that such mental health conditions involve moral and civil rights issues, adding important dimensions often neglected in similar books.
Despite a few unpersuasive arguments, this is a formidable entry in the field of books about the mental health crisis.Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-29804-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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PERSPECTIVES
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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