Revealing Psychiatry... from an Insider

"Roaming, conversational musings on psychiatry principles and phenomena." -- KIRKUS REVIEW

PAVLOS SAKKAS grew up in the milieu of psychiatry as his father was also a psychiatrist. Pavlos has practiced Psychiatry at the front line for the last thirty years and is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical School of the University of Athens. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He has obtained prestigious scholarships and has accomplished substantial works in research, with hundreds of publications in international scientific journals.
However, despite these great professional achievements, his greatest fondness is for teaching. He has spent his long academic career initiating thousands of medical students and hundreds of specialised psychiatrists into the world of psychiatry. Furthermore, featuring in the media on numerous occasions, he tries to familiarise the general public with the messages of modern Psychiatry and the significant developments achieved in recent decades.
Pavlos Sakkas' inquisitive spirit has formulated fresh and enterprising points of view concerning certain aspects - that are still obscure - of psychiatry. In his clinical work, which has been met with high esteem, he has meanwhile applied special personal techniques of approach to a patient. It is these views and employed technique that are set out in his present book, which represents the distillation of his knowledge and experience.

DEDICATION;AUTHOR'S BIOGRAPHY;A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE BOOK;INTRODUCTION;THE HUMAN BRAIN: AN ADMIRABLE COMPUTER;Memory;Search engine;Plasticity: a gift as well as a jail;Habit: a gift to burn your fingers;SCHIZOPHRENIA: A TINY SHORT-CIRCUIT;Schizophrenia: a biological illness;An interesting model;THE PATIENT'S COMPLIANCE AND HIS/HER PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY;DEPRESSION: THE BATTERY NEEDS RECHARGING;Depression: a gift from modern life;RECESSION AND DEPRESSION;MANIA: A DATA STORM;Hypomania;ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS: A USELESS ALARM SYSTEM;Anxiety's prehistory;Modern anxiety;The mechanism of anxiety;Control of the Anxiety;The usefulness of anxiety;The impact of anxiety;A piece of advice;The relation between anxiety and depression;The treatment for anxiety in five steps;OBSESSIONS AND COMPULSIONS: DEFICIENCY OF PROGRAMME LOADING;The treatment;DEMENTIA: AN UNAVOIDABLE DETERIORATION?;The symptoms;The treatment;SLEEP: AN OBLIGATORY 'RESTART';The architecture of sleep;Dreams;Insomnia;10 recommendations for those who suffer from insomnia;The environment of sleep;ANOREXIA NERVOSA;Extreme anorexia: a programme for extreme situations;RESTRAINT;Addictions: stuck in a useless programme;An innocent game of strategy;NARCOTICS;PROVOCATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY;A strike where it hurts;Disorientation and relaxation;The approval;RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO SEXES;When biology is disregarded;DIVORCE: A WAR FOR FREEDOM;PARENT - CHILD RELATIONSHIPS;Downgrading: A canker in a relationship;The contest of generations;The Rule of Three S;TWO 'LOVING' SIBLINGS;PEOPLE'S PERSONALITY;Hysterical personality;Compulsive personality;WHAT HAS MEANING IN MY EXISTENCE?;SUICIDE;Why should I stay alive?;THE PSYCHIATRIST'S MORAL DILEMMA;Antidepressants;Improvement with drops;Advice on eugenics;PSYCHOANALYSIS: AN ATTEMPT TO CHANGE A BASIC PROGRAMME;IN LIEU OF AN AFTERWORD: PSYCHIATRY AND RATIONALISM.