Antoine Pélissolo is head of psychiatry at the Henri-Mondor university hospital, Créteil, and professor of medicine at Université Paris-Est. He is also a member of the steering committee of the FondaMental Foundation and president of the French Association of Anxiety Disorders and Depression. He is the author of two self-help guides pubished by Editions Odile Jacob: Bien se soigner avec les médicaments psy (“Take Care of Yourself with Psychiatric Medication”), Ne plus rougir et accepter le regard des autres (“Blush No More and Accept People’s Stares”).

This book is an introduction to positive psychiatry. A book that explains and gives hope. Its objective: to combat misconceptions and fear to change attitudes towards mental suffering and, doubtless, on psychiatry as well.
While mental disorders, that is to say what causes suffering daily and repeatedly — phobias, addictions, mood disorders, anxiety, depression, etc. — are often "true killers of hope" because they lock the person into painful behavior, this optimistic approach demonstrates that it is possible to consider them in a new way. How? By showing how, through advances in the understanding of disorders and treatments, it is possible to better treat a patient without reducing the person to a mere list of symptoms.
This approach, in the form of an ABC in short, accessible, clear and referenced chapters, helps explain the huge range of psychological difficulties and the different forms of mental suffering. Understanding and knowledge are great levers against the despair caused by disease.


With its clear and accessible style, this book can be read by all those concerned with mental suffering: doctors, caregivers, patients and their families.
A book with practical end-use: boxed sections give information on treatment techniques.
Written by one of the recognized experts in psychiatry.