Assessment and Therapy is a derivative volume of articles pulled from the award-winning Encyclopedia of Mental Health, presenting a comprehensive overview of assessing and treating the many disorders afflicting mental health patients, including alcohol problems, Alzheimer's disease, depression, epilepsy, gambling, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, and suicide.
According to 1990 estimates, mental disorders represent five of the ten leading causes of disability. Among "developed" nations, including the United States, major depression is the leading cause of disability. Also near the top of these rankings are bipolar depression, alcohol dependence, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In addition, mental disorders are tragic contributors to mortality, with suicide perennially representing one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide.
Assessment and Therapy describes the impact of mental health on the individual and society and illustrates the factors that aid positive mental health. Twenty-six peer-reviewed articles written by more than 40 expert authors include essential material on assessing and treating schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness, major depression, anxiety disorders, and other mental illnesses. Professionals and libraries will find this timely work indispensable.
Friedman, Howard S.: - Howard S. Friedman, Editor-in-Chief, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. For his work on "changing how we think about the nature of health," he received the James McKeen Cattell Award from the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the top award for applied scientific research in psychology. His research on disease-prone and self-healing personalities (terms he coined) led to his receipt of the Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology senior award from the American Psychological Association (APA Division 38). Dr. Friedman attended Yale University, graduating magna cum laude with Honors in psychology. He was awarded a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D.
Professor Friedman is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an elected Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and a thrice-elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association. In 2015, he was selected as the Faculty Research Lecturer at the University of California, Riverside, which is "the highest honor that the Academic Senate bestows."
Dr. Friedman's research centers around the relations of mental and physical health. He has received research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute on Aging. His wide-ranging interests and integrative orientation served him well in editing this Encyclopedia.
Devoted also to teaching, Professor Friedman has received many teaching awards, including the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award, for "inspiring students to make a difference in the community." He has also received UC Riverside's Distinguished Teaching Award and the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research mentoring.
