From Survive to Thrive: Living Your Best Life with Mental Illness (A Johns Hopkins Press Health)

What's holding you back? Learn how to take the steps needed to get to a place where you are happier, more productive, and more at peace.

Are you struggling with personal problems, a mental health condition, or addiction? Are you looking to permanently improve your well-being and happiness? If you'd like to lead a fuller, more satisfying life—or help a mentally ill loved one—this book is for you.

In From Survive to Thrive, Dr. Margaret S. Chisolm, a psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, describes a tried-and-true plan to help anyone grappling with life's challenges learn how to flourish. Dr. Chisolm does not define health as the mere absence of illness. She wants you to be able to lead the best life possible—to thrive! In down-to-earth prose, Dr. Chisolm provides insight into how readers can cultivate healthy habits and more positive reactions to life's provocations, choosing not to allow past life circumstances or a disease state to define their well-being.

She also
• introduces the four perspectives through which all mental distress should be examined: disease, dimensional, behavior, and life story
• describes the four pathways associated with well-being: family, work, education, and community
• includes fascinating stories from her own clinical (and personal) experience featuring real people who found fulfillment by embracing these perspectives and pathways
• supplements detailed, step-by-step advice with interactive elements, including self-assessments and self-reflection exercises
• incorporates graphic elements to illustrate important lessons

This upbeat guide is the first to detail evidence-based principles for improving well-being in those with mental illness.