Mental Health & Wellbeing: Non-Fiction

Mental depression is a serious issue in contemporary New Zealand, and it has an increasingly high profile. But during our history, depression has often been hidden under a long black cloud of denial that we have not always lived up to the Kiwi ideal of being pragmatic and have not always coped.Using historic patient records as a starting place, and informed by her own experience of depression, academic Jacqueline Leckie' s timely social history of depression in Aotearoa analyses its medical, cultural and social contexts through an historical lens. From detailing its links to melancholia and explaining its expression within Indigenous and migrant communities, this engrossing book interrogates how depression was medicalised and has been treated, and how New Zealanders have lived with it.

"In Together, the former Surgeon General addresses the overlooked epidemic of loneliness as the underpinning to the current crisis in mental wellness and offers solutions to create connection and stresses the importance of community to counteract the forces driving us to depression and isolation"-- Provided by publisher.

This book is the result of a collaboration between academics at the University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau and teachers in schools. It is an excellent resource for teachers wanting to teach about resilience, mental health, interpersonal skills, and wellbeing. -- Provided by publisher.

"Mental Health: A Person-centred Approach equips students with the tools they need to provide exceptional person-focused care when supporting improved mental health of diverse communities. The third edition has been updated and restructured to provide a more logical and comprehensive guide to mental health practice. It includes new chapters on trauma-informed care, different mental health conditions and diagnoses, suicide and self-harm and the mental health of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Significant updates have been made to the chapters on the social and emotional well-being of First Nations Australians and mental health assessment. Taking a narrative approach, the text interweaves personal stories from consumers, carers and workers with lived experience. Each chapter contains 'Translation to Practice' and 'Interprofessional Perspective' boxes, reflection questions and end-of-chapter questions and activities to test students' understanding of key theories. Written by experts in the field, Mental Health remains an essential, person-centred resource for mental health students"-- Publisher's description.

eBook also available.
This timely and practical book is for any employee, manager or leader who wants to understand mental health at a deeper level, and learn how to talk about it really well in the workplace. Taking a realistic approach through research, stories of lived experience, and applied techniques that anyone can use, this approachable book covers a variety of crucial areas, including: * How we bring our beliefs and experiences around mental health and mental illness into the workplace * The importance of understanding how the language we use, consciously or unconsciously, impacts our interactions with others * Ways to manage the challenges around having mental health conversations at work * Step-by-step 'how-to' conversation guides, alongside practical tools * Concrete tips on ways to action this education, individually or at a team level.

"An engaging and deeply reported investigation of friendship: its evolution, purpose, and centrality in human and nonhuman lives alike. The bonds of friendship are universal and elemental. In Friendship, journalist Lydia Denworth visits the front lines of the science of friendship in search of its biological, psychological, and evolutionary foundations. Finding it to be as old as life on the African savannas, she also discovers that friendship is reflected in our brain waves, detectable in our genomes, and capable of strengthening our cardiovascular and immune systems. Its opposite, loneliness, can kill. As a result, social connection is finally being recognized as critical to our physical and emotional well-being. With warmth and compassion, Denworth weaves together past and present, field biology and cutting-edge neuroscience, to show how our bodies and minds are designed to make friends, the process by which social bonds develop, and how a drive for friendship underpins human (and nonhuman) society. With its refreshingly optimistic vision of the evolution of human nature, this book puts friendship at the center of our lives"-- Provided by publisher

Written through the lens of her own story and her work in the field of addiction and recovery, Lotta explores the privileged position alcohol holds in our society, the way the liquor industry targets women and the damaging 'Wine Mum' social media culture. She reveals the damage alcohol is causing to women physically, emotionally, and socially, and the potential reasons why so many women are drinking at harmful levels. She talks to a number of brave women who share detailed, intimate stories about their personal relationships with alcohol--stories that are at times brutal and heartbreaking, but also inspiring and heart lifting.

Richly illustrated throughout, this book tells the stories of a wide range of New Zealanders, who – either individually or through organised initiatives – have experienced the wellbeing benefits gained through connection with nature. Their stories are varied but each one is authentic, personal and moving.

A clear, warm, and practical guide to counter the sense of fear and isolation that surrounds self-harm.

"Suicide and mental illness are uncomfortable topics, yet, Michael carefully guides the reader through these difficult subjects in a remarkable way that leaves the reader feeling empowered and hopeful. Michael effortlessly merges scientific research with real-world examples. This book takes complex scientific information and presents it in a way so that anyone can understand it. Michael shows that suicide is caused by a wide range of reasons, from depression, anxiety, brain injuries, psychosis, lack of sleep, loneliness, failure and many more. More importantly, he shows that no matter how bad the situation is there is always hope and always options for things to get better. He shows that there are also many options available for people who have been told, 'there is nothing we can do for you'. The book is helpful for all parents, teachers, counsellors, social workers, sports coaches, employers, doctors, nurses and many more"--Back cover.

This resource supports children and young people about mental health, wellbeing, resilience and interpersonal skills. The lesson plans work for multiple year and curriculum levels and are particularly useful for years 7-11 health education

This is a unique analysis of the interaction between the mental health system and the law in New Zealand. It provides extensive commentary and discussion on mental health law and practice and provides clear practical guidance on and understanding of complex clinical realities that arise in this area of legal and medical practice. Since the second edition was published in 2005 there have been major legislative, common law and societal developments that impact mental health law. The book has been restructured and has new content on social media and young people; the committal process and mental health advocacy.

eBook also available.
This book brings together two bodies of knowledge - wellbeing and recovery. Wellbeing and 'positive' approaches are increasingly influencing many areas of society. Recovery in mental illness has a growing empirical evidence base. For the first time, overlaps and cross-fertilisation opportunities between the two bodies of knowledge are identified.

eBook also available.
"The health of the planet -- and all of us who live on it -- is under dire threat from factors such as climate change, obesity and new infectious diseases. Progressive health promotion is an approach that can counterbalance these threats with practice, policy and advocacy for health, well-being and equity. Promoting Health in Aotearoa New Zealand provides a rich scan of the health promotion landscape in New Zealand. It explores ways in which Māori, and other, perspectives have been melded with Western ideas to produce distinctly New Zealand approaches. In doing so it addresses the need for locally written material for use in teaching and practice, and provides direction for all those wanting to solve complex public health problems" -- Back cover.

Health, Wellbeing and Environment in Aotearoa New Zealand provides students and with a sound introduction to the concepts of health and wellbeing within the New Zealand environment. The book is informed by current issues and debate, examines the cultural, political, social and environmental contexts of health, and is written to foster critical thinking and analysis.