50 Signs of Mental Illness
50 Signs of Mental Illness: A Guide to Understanding Mental Health is a 2005 book by psychiatrist James Whitney Hicks published by Yale University Press. The book is designed as an accessible psychiatric reference for non-professionals that describes symptoms, treatments and strategies for understanding mental health.
List of signs
The 50 signs covered in the book are:- Anger
- Antisocial Behavior
- Anxiety
- Appetite disturbances
- Avoidance
- Body image problems
- Compulsions
- Confusion
- Craving
- Deceitfulness
- Delusions
- Denial
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Euphoria
- Fatigue
- Fears
- Flashbacks
- Grandiosity
- Grief
- Hallucinations
- Histrionics
- Hyperactivity
- Identity confusion
- Impulsiveness
- Intoxication
- Jealousy
- Learning difficulties
- Mania
- Memory loss
- Mood swings
- Movement problems
- Nonsense
- Obsessions
- Oddness
- Panic
- Paranoia
- Physical complaints and pain
- Psychosis
- Religious preoccupations
- Self-esteem problems
- Self-mutilation
- Sexual performance problems
- Sexual preoccupations
- Sleep problems
- Sloppiness
- Speech difficulties
- Stress
- Suicidal thoughts
- Psychological trauma
Reception
A review in the American Journal of Psychiatry commended Hicks's phrasing of acceptable ways to speak about mental illness.A review in The National Medical Journal of India likewise applauded the book's accessibility to non-experts, though it criticized Hicks's choice of symptoms and suggested "It would be difficult for an Indian to relate to the book" due to the examples he uses.
The book also received attention from Health, Library Journal, The Baltimore Sun, and The Washington Post.