Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Mental Health. Edited by Adriane Ruggiero. Detroit, Mich.: Greenhaven Press Thomson Gale, 2008. 1 vol. 239 p. $36.20. ISBN 10: 0-7377-3844-8; 13: 978-0-7377-3844-5.

At the end of 2007, statistics on the numbers of soldiers returning from Iraq who committed suicide brought national attention to the psychological problems of these veterans. Defined as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the disease was given this name in 1980 when veterans of the Vietnam War returned. The introduction to this volume helps set the stage for the Chapters: "Mental Health in Early American History," "The Era of Mental Institutions," "Revolutionary Changes Lead to the Modern Mental Health-Care System," "Mental Health Activism" and "Improving Care for the Mentally Ill." Each of the primary source documents is introduced with an explanation of what the student will be reading. A student assigned to prepare a paper on this topic will find an excellent start here. Appendixes include a chronology beginning in 1600 when mental illness was God's punishment for sins committed by the individual or demonic possession to 2007 with the Veterans Administration faced with PTSD of returning veterans, organizations to contact and a brief bibliography of books, periodical articles and internet sites for further research.