Book excerpt: Many of us take our mental health for granted. But when confronted by mental illness in family members, friends or ourselves, even the most competent can become overwhelmed.Understanding Troubled Minds guides us calmly and authoritatively through the full range of mental illnesses and their treatment, and includes chapters dealing specifically with mental illnesses afflicting women, children and the elderly. It stresses the value of partnerships between psychiatrists, patients and their families.Balanced, humanistic and thoroughly readable, this fully revised edition of Understanding Troubled Minds serves as a practical guide to mental illness and its treatment.