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@mattmcgorry : "I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help! How To Help Someone With Mental Illness Accept Treatment" by Dr. Xavier Amador, Ph.D. # *His definition of "serious mental illness" in the book ("for the sake of brevity" as referenced in the book) are "psychotic illnesses including schizophernia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and others." He states that there are many other types of serious mental illnesses but that this book deals with the others for reasons stated below. # I first saw Dr. Amador's Ted Talk (called "I am not sick, I don't need help!" and is available if you Google it) and my interest was greatly piqued. Coming from a family with multiple people suffering from schizophrenia, I have never quite felt like I had enough tools to be as helpful as I could be. There are approximately 6 million people in the U.S. that have serious mental illnesses* (again using the definition of above), and about 50% of these people do not believe that they are ill and refuse to take the medication prescribed for them. # Oftentimes, the automatic response of family, friends, etc to those that are suffering from the serious mental illness* is to deny this person's experiences. To try and disprove the delusions or provide evidence for why the delusions cannot possibly be real. Oftentimes in hopes that this will get the person to realize that they are suffering from mental illness, and thus accept treatment. Too often, we see it as stubbornness or denial, instead of what it really is. # Anosognosia is a lack of insight into illness that actually stems from damage to the brain. "we felt there was good reason to believe that what we were seeing in patients with schizophrenia was a consequence of brain dysfunction rather then stubornness, defensiveness, or ignorance about mental illness in general. The fact is that the brain circuitry responsible for recording and updating self-concept is not working properly in such patients." # I am not incredibly knowledgeable about menta