Review: Common-sense advice on how to empower yourself to live the good life (or as good a life as possible)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2014
As a psychiatrist I read plenty of professional publications on mental disorders. One of the many issues with much of the professional writing about the subject of health and mental well being is that it is written with a very specific public in mind: other professionals. Readability is not always the priority and some can be dry and not particularly engaging (although there are many good writers in the field). When recommending books or articles to patients and service-users it is important to keep in mind who the books are addressed to and how much common ground they cover.On the other hand there are books that are very personal accounts and can be inspirational but not always easy to generalize to other cases. And some of the books containing advice make no reference to any theoretical approaches and lack no firm evidence to back-up their suggestions.I was pleased when I read Marquita Herald’s book ‘Stepping Stones to Emotional Resilience’ (2nd Ed) to note that it does not fall into either of those categories. It is neither a dry professional book, nor a personal account lacking research and good evidence behind it. The author gives credit where credit is due, clearly stating where her ideas come from, and also acknowledging the lack of research in some areas (like the effects of Spirituality on resilience).The concept of resilience fits in well with the “stress-vulnerability” model that many patients seem to find helpful in understanding their mental health difficulties. In brief it’s the idea that we are all born with a certain vulnerability to stress (sometimes we use the metaphor of a bucket of a certain size, with some people having a bigger bucket, and therefore being more resistant to stress, whilst others are born with a smaller one and a lesser degree of stress might topple them over the edge) and if stresses accumulate over our level of tolerance we’re bound to become mentally unwell. There are a number of techniques that can help (not make the inborn bucket larger, but make escape valves or holes on it that would allow relief and make it possible to handle more stress), including medication, enhancing coping strategies and a variety of therapies. Ms. Herald’s book points at ways of building up resilience, that she notes is like a muscle and can be trained. She also emphasizes the importance of knowing oneself, as that is the first step towards being able to build on our strengths and find mechanisms to overcome our weaknesses.Despite the references and research behind the concepts, the book is written in a common-sense easy-to-follow manner, highlighting the main concepts in bold, adding summaries that go over the ideas of each chapter, and it is written with the theories of how we best learn in mind. That makes it a good book for a large variety of audiences, those with a good basis on mental health issues and also people looking for good tips and advice to improve their life.‘Stepping Stones’ is enhanced by examples, not only the personal account of the writer, but also many inspiring stories, from heroic feats to smaller but important achievements, that pepper the chapters and keep the momentum going. There are also a number of brief accounts and reminders of famous figures who had in common their perseverance, learning from experiences and indeed resilience. They illustrate further that good things are worth working for and also that it is not all down to talent and inspiration. Keeping at it also plays a very important part.I recommend ‘Stepping Stones’ as a user-friendly self-help book based on sound concepts, containing easy to follow ideas, that does not promise life will be happy and fluffy if you read it, but if you work hard and never give up you’ll be better prepared to cope with whatever might come your way. Are you ready to give it a go?