Whether you are a family member or a therapist, in this book you will find hope in what the new research is revealing about the problem of poor insight into illness.

Prepare to be surprised and to have new hope. There is much you can do to conquer denial.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 44 reviews)

A key contribution to the literature of mental disorders

What most laypeople call "denial" is a key feature of several mental disorders. Xavier Amador recognized the paucity of literature on the subject and began a decades long inquiry into what is now recognized, not as "denial," but as "lack of insight" -- the inability of a person to recognize the "self".

While the brain biology (or chemistry) that leads to this result is as yet not completely understood, Dr. Amador's approach to diagnosis, understanding, and potential management of this single factor is a significant contribution to individuals grappling on their own with mental disorders, and to families, friends, or other caregivers attempting to deal with a person who believes that "I am not sick."

His descriptions of personal family experiences and those from the family of the David Letterman stalker provide particularly stark reminders of the disruptions to family life and devastating consequences that can occur. The provision of citations to professional papers will help lead seekers of even more information to contemporary views.
October 12, 2008

Truth

If you've had a mental illness, worked with someone who has an illness, or lived with someone with a mental illness; this book has a way of explaining the logic you might run into. A great reminder that we are more than just our illnesses.
October 05, 2008

I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help

When I started reading this book I instantly had the feeling there was someone who knew exactly what was going on with my loved one and what questions I had about it. Being German I had not been able to find anything adequate on the German bookmarket. This book does not only explain what someone with schizophrenia is going through but also gives hope and confidence for family members and other persons concerned. Dr. Amador's method of "LEAP" has become a very helpful and precious instrument for me and those I passed the book. "THE BOOK" we call it and for me it truly has been some kind of a live-saver. Thank you, Dr. Amador!
August 16, 2008

Not quite the whole story, but still good

This book is excellent, but there are certain vital aspects that are kind of left out. I do understand why Dr. Amador probably did this; it's a book about how to deal with loved ones who refuse to admit they're sick, so it can't go off into too many tangents. What it doesn't do is to make it clear that *not all mentally ill people are like this!!!* Some of us are NOT in denial and DO have insight. Some of us KNOW we're sick and we DO need help (that's why we take our meds exactly the way our doctor told us to!) The only problem, then, is that anyone reading this book is likely to get the impression that nobody with a severe and persistent mental illness admits it or is able to admit it. This is so untrue. To be fair, Dr. Amador does say in the beginning that as many of 50% of all of us SPMI folk are med compliant, but that's the only place where this is said and it's easy to forget.

I'd like to see someone explore the issue of the 25-50% of people with SPMI's who ARE compliant with their meds. We're out there! I should know-- I'm one of them. YES, I'm bipolar, and I'll need medication until the day I die, so *give me the pills!* That's pretty much my attitude. The capper to it all is that I have a closed head injury from a car accident, and an MRI certainly DOES show that I have frontal lobe lesions. Hey, guess what... I'm still not in denial about having BP. The least attractive thing about it is that I can get pretty self-righteous about people who don't take their meds, complete with the "if I can do it, anyone can" attitude. ;) But still, I would really like to see Dr. Amador (or another author) address why and how some patients are fully compliant. What are they doing that the others are not doing; what are they avoiding that others are falling into? Are there warning signs that even the compliant folks might go off meds? If so, what are they? Are certain subtypes of mental illnesses more likely to cause people to be compliant? Less likely? I think there's so much that could be learned by looking at the people who have SPMI's but are not covered in this particular book. Other than that, though, it's a great book. :)
June 27, 2008

Incredible!

I was brought to tears on more than one occasion while reading this amazing book. Such a brilliant, compassionate approach to getting help for loved ones who don't think they need help. I recommend this book for anyone who's life is affected by mental illness.
June 20, 2008

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