Abnormal Psychology by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema

Abnormal Psychology is filled with small diagrams of the brain that illustrate the structures that are affected or influenced by the abnormalities. Each and every disorder involves a particular structure in the brain. These diagrams help the students to understand the each and every part of the brain and find out the areas that are related with the psychological disorders. Abnormal Psychology also includes a section ‘Extraordinary People’ where the life of the people who live with psychological disorder is featured. Readers are able to understand how the people with mental disorder live and what the consequences are. The empirical research sections include the studies of the famous researchers with the illustrations (about where the field is proceeding). The fourth edition also includes information on repetitive transcrannial magnetic stimulation. Apart from this there are discussions about gender and culture and its relation with the frequency and type of the mental disorders. The new edition also includes various debates and studies, for example the debate about the influence of culture in the diagnosis of psychological disorders.

Abnormal Psychology also includes the ‘voices’ section in all chapters that contains subjective accounts or testimonies from people who suffer from psychological disorders. For example the autobiography of the psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison (who is under bipolar disorder).  These testimonials help the students to have a better understanding of the signs and symptoms and the real effect of psychological disorders in the lives of people.  Moreover there are ‘Taking Psychology Personally’ sections where the personal concerns (brought by the students) about abnormal psychology are included. The book also includes various practical approaches and techniques (for example how to search for a better therapist and how to take care of a loved one who suffer from mental disorder).  Apart from this, there are case studies that explain the symptoms and treatment details of real time cases. Students are also benefited with the clinical context of abnormal psychology in the book. The book also includes wonderful learning tools that help the readers to catch the important information in the entire text, for example the DSM-IV-TR Tables. There are also the ‘Concept Overviews’ that are the summaries of the key material in the form of figures and tables. This constitutes a visual summary of the entire text. Another unique feature of the book is the ‘FacesInteractive’ section which is a web-based which helps the readers to evaluate the real patients.