These are a number of my favorite books, and all of which are great reads.

• Philosophy: The Golden Chain of Homer is probably one of the most important books ever written in the field of Alchemy, which delves very deep into Philosophical territory.
  
  
• Business/ Economics/ Finance: The Economic Way of Thinking is always held in high regards as an excellent book in presenting basic economics. It presents the subject in a clear, and concise way, and meant to develop a new way of thinking for those new to economics.
  
  
• Non-Fiction/ Technology/ Science: The Road to Reality has a very nice overview of the essential mathematics of modern physics, and goes into a nice discussion of quantum mechanics and string theory.
  
  
• Current Affairs: A Sociology of Mental Illness is a great insight into current issues in the field of mental illness. You'll never see mental illness in the same way ever again after reading this book.
  
  
• Specialized Topic: Traditional Blacksmithing is probably one of my favorite books of all time. This is as good a discussion and instruction into traditional blacksmithing as you will find, as well as good advice into how a blacksmith ought to conduct himself to live a well rounded lifestyle.

Until more recently, it wasn't common to find books/articles on "how to do" psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The knowledge of how to perform the therapy came from the therapist's training analysis, which, going back to Freud, used to be the only requirement for becoming a psychoanalyst (cf. The question of Lay Analysis by Freud). However, there are now some "psychodynamic" therapies that provide a "how to" look at therapy using psychoanalytic principles. Two that I am familiar with are Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy or ISTDP and Brief Dynamic Therapywhich is a little better in my opinion. Glen Gabbard, who I like a lot, has also written a text that lays out some of the basics of psychotherapy from an analytic perspective.

Speaking of Gabbard, I highly recommend his text Psychodynamic Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. It provides an overview of some of the major psychoanalytic theories (drive, ego, object, self). Unfortunately he doesn't cover Lacan, and briefly touches on intersubjectivity. Another book in this vein (without the diagnostic applications) is Freud and Beyond by Stephen Mitchell and Margaret Black. Not to diminish Dr. Black, but Stephen Mitchell is really great. I recommend anything by him, especially Hope and Dread in Psychoanalysis and Relationality.

Finally, any recommendation on contemporary American psychoanalytic writing would be incomplete without mentioning Thomas Ogden, especially The Matrix of the Mind and The Primitive Edge of Experience. His more recent works are great as well, but a little more nebulous and might be less applicable to beginning psychoanalytic work.

Oh, and I can't help but recommend this little book by Owen Renik Practical Psychoanalysis. Renik is great, and I really enjoy is work, especially his thinking on "getting real in psychoanalysis." Though he is far from the traditional views of analytic neutrality and abstinence.

Goodwin and Guze psychiatric diagnosis (https://www.amazon.com/Goodwin-Guzes-Psychiatric-Diagnosis-Carol/dp/0195144295/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491703771&sr=8-1&keywords=goodwin+and+guze+psychiatric+diagnosis)

I'm a psychiatry intern, and this is the book I read every night. Very will written and both easy and enjoyable to read. It really helps conceptualize the psychiatric assessment.

Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience https://www.amazon.com/Psychiatry-Clinical-Neuroscience-Charles-Zorumski/dp/0199360561/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491704272&sr=8-2&keywords=clinical+neuroscience+psychiatry

This is what it sounds like, helps you remember that psychiatry still has roots in neurology.

Personally I love Stahl's pharm book. It has pictures, it's concise, and it's mostly right. If you get to the point where it's not answering your question you're probably past textbooks anyway and need to hop on PubMed.

Hello lilrevolution,

If you are looking for a case-based approach, then try Irvin Yalom's book Love's Executioner. It is a series of cases from a psychotherapist's point of view. Very good read and great place to start.

History of psychotherapy explored in a very engaging and informative way is: Freud and Beyond:
http://www.amazon.com/Freud-Beyond-History-Psychoanalytic-Thought/dp/0465014054/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342420993&sr=1-1&keywords=freud+and+beyond

If you are looking for learning from a medical student's point of view with cases, then try Blueprints Clinical Cases in Psychiatry or other similar books. Another excellent author is David Robinson, who has written a series of books (on personality disorders and mental status exams, along with other topics), one example is:
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Reel-Portrayals-Psychiatric-Conditions/dp/1894328299/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342420783&sr=8-2&keywords=reel+to+real+robinson

A fantastic series of books is the American Psychiatric Publishing Concise Guides series. The topics range from Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, to Psychopharmacology, to Addictions:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=american+psychiatric+publishing+concise+guide&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aamerican+psychiatric+publishing+concise+guide

A lot of non-medication related work in related fields is written by psychologists or other allied health care staff. If you are interested in different modalities of treatment then different authors come to mind. One example is Nancy Mcwilliams - a gifted author and psychotherapist, but may be a bit of a harder read as it is more didactic and meant to be much more educational than Yalom's Love's Executioner.

With respect to fiction, then medical school classics are The House of God by Samuel Shem, and the psychiatric-focused follow up, Mount Misery.

Let me know if I can recommend anything more specific.

Came here to say Oliver Sacks (neuroscience).
I picked up a used copy of the DSM-IV casebook; it's very cheap since the DSM-V has come out. Diagnoses may be outdated but the stories are still there!

There are casebooks in other fields, too-- Surgery, multiple specialities, medical ethics, [pediatrics] (http://www.amazon.com/Files-Pediatrics-Fourth-Edition-LANGE/dp/0071766987/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cp_9_EQ6W?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WJ16SB6971PCJ94TK2S). Your college library ought to have new-ish ones you can read for free.

I'm also encouraged by reading scientific journal articles in medical fields (research is exciting).

Other stuff: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks isn't about a doctor, but it's about a patient and the HeLa cell line that's been so important to medicine. My decision to go into medicine was affected by The Plague, a novel by Albert Camus about a plague-stricken city. (Main character is a doctor, though not exactly a modern MD.)

I asked this question while interviewing for psych residencies, best I've found is Gabbard's text. The first section is an excellent primer on psychodynamic theory, with lots of great historical context.

> it's not a straight percentage reduction from different doses

No it isn't. The formula is y= x/100 280.059565 n^-0.412565956

Y represents dosage needed for same effect

x represents last dosage taken

N value represents the number of days since last trip.

You can do it by hand or just use a calculator like this one http://tolerancecalculator.paperplane.io/

Good read on tolerance https://www.amazon.com/Pharmacology-LSD-critical-review/dp/0199589828/ref=sr_1_45?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449793197&sr=1-45&keywords=LSD

Take a course/ continuing ed class on this as soon as there is one in your area. I took one on documentation that was very helpful. In the meantime get a list of your facility's approved abbreviation list. If you abbreviate outside of that list it could come up in the survey. I would also suggest reading this book, which reviews documentation along with many other things that you might not be aware of if you are new to long-term care. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/082619348X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0826115330&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1DJ8B2F0ETTXXXKRKTM9

Texts and Reference Books

Days in the Lives of Social Workers

DSM-5

Child Development, Third Edition: A Practitioner's Guide

Racial and Ethnic Groups

Social Work Documentation: A Guide to Strengthening Your Case Recording

Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond

[Thoughts and Feelings: Taking Control of Your Moods and Your Life]
(https://www.amazon.com/Thoughts-Feelings-Harbinger-Self-Help-Workbook/dp/1608822087/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3ZW7PRW5TK2PB0MDR9R3)

Interpersonal Process in Therapy: An Integrative Model

[The Clinical Assessment Workbook: Balancing Strengths and Differential Diagnosis]
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0534578438/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_38?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ARCO1HGQTQFT8)

Helping Abused and Traumatized Children

Essential Research Methods for Social Work

Navigating Human Service Organizations

Privilege: A Reader

Play Therapy with Children in Crisis

The Color of Hope: People of Color Mental Health Narratives

The School Counseling and School Social Work Treatment Planner

Streets of Hope : The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood

Deviant Behavior

Social Work with Older Adults

The Aging Networks: A Guide to Programs and Services

[Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice]
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415884810/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change

Ethnicity and Family Therapy

Human Behavior in the Social Environment: Perspectives on Development and the Life Course

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work

Generalist Social Work Practice: An Empowering Approach

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook

DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents

DBT Skills Manual

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets

Social Welfare: A History of the American Response to Need

Novels

[A People’s History of the United States]
(https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0062397346/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511070674&sr=1-1&keywords=howard+zinn&dpID=51pps1C9%252BGL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch)


The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Life For Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Tuesdays with Morrie

The Death Class <- This one is based off of a course I took at my undergrad university

The Quiet Room

Girl, Interrupted

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Flowers for Algernon

Of Mice and Men

A Child Called It

Go Ask Alice

Under the Udala Trees

Prozac Nation

It's Kind of a Funny Story

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Bell Jar

The Outsiders

To Kill a Mockingbird

Hi, I did a Masters in Mental Health and Philosophy at Warwick University, UK. It was super interesting and nearly all mental health practice is born from philosophy! This serves as a basic introduction : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Esssential-Philosophy-Psychiatry-International-Perspectives/dp/019922871X/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1522493706&sr=1-7&keywords=International+Perspectives+in+Philosophy+and+Psychiatry

No risk, I'm sure. Great username, btw.

For an extremely detailed biochemical explanation of tolerance and its effects and longevity, I always recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Pharmacology-LSD-critical-review/dp/0199589828/ref=sr_1_45?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449793197&sr=1-45&keywords=LSD

> He was a Dutch cook and flew to Shanghai to a factory where they had dozens of tons of PMK they couldn't sell because it had been recently banned. He put 2mil upfront he borrowed off the author of the book and had the factories entire stock converted into this new precursor and shipped a bit to Australia and the rest to Europe. The author of the book was an Australian cook the Dutch guy met when they were both in jail in the US a decade or so earlier. and thus since 2012ish onward the dutch have switched recipes to due access of safrole and have switch to this chemical instead as it is super cheap around $200 kilo non bulk (4kg) and (400) per single.

> There's an ebook called 'Pills Of God' on Amazon about one of the guys involved in the discovery of this process, it happened much earlier than 2012 though.

That is correct.

Funny enough, that method the Dutch chemist used was outlined in Strike's book Total Synthesis II, published in 1998. It's "Method #12" iirc. It was developed starting in 1938 and a patent filed for in the early-mid 1940's.

this

Show this gift some love. please

I would love a copy of this and the sadock books.

DSM-5 Insanely Simplified is a similar resource I've used. PM me, I can send you a copy xD

It's actually way more complicated than that. If you're interested, The Perspectives of Psychiatry by Paul McHugh explains it well. book

Okay, yes, it is possible to investigate meditation and apply various kinds of research design to that investigation. I haven't denied that. BTW you seem to have only linked to an image rather than an article. Without wanting to be dismissive, there is an instant problem with holding up RCTs and their grouped analyses up as the highest standard of evidence. It's too big a topic to explore here, and takes us way outside the subject of this thread, so I'll just link to a couple of texts:

Book length:
Article indicative of the literature: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctoring-Mind-psychiatric-treatments-fail/dp/0141023694http://ssir.org/articles/entry/rcts_not_all_that_glitters_is_gold

OF course I want good evidence. But the standards of rigour implied by the evidence-based medicine paradigm aren't actually always all that rigorous.

Meditation is currently advised as a treatment for a range of physical and mental health conditions on the basis that it has evidence based benefits. In some instances it has been suggested- from the evidence- that meditation may be better than antidepressants in the treatment of mental suffering.

These studies will not have involved Buddhist meditators- ie. people actively practicing meditation techniques learned and practiced within various Buddhist traditions and settings as part of a complete way of life- but only people with some "mindfulness" training.

A previous version of this is what I used alongside the DSM to learn psychopathology in graduate school. It is informative and thorough, and covers in much more depth the descriptions of mental disorders and differentiating them, rather than just listing criteria.

Not sure if you meant this, but psychometrics don't have anything to do with diagnostics. Psychometrics is a subfield in statistics and tests/measurement that deals chiefly with the statistical concepts of reliability, validity, measurement bias, and other topics relevant to accurately measuring what we think we're measuring. If that's what you're after, this is a good resource.

I've recently acquired an e-book copy of A Companion to Psychological Anthropology: Modernity and Psychocultural Change. It's basically a collection of essays about current themes, trends, research and debates in psychological anthropology. I've only read the first essay and I skimmed through the topics of the others, and it seems like none focus on the Oedipus complex.

Did you cover the topic in anthropological context? I.e. ethnopsychoanalysis?

Synopsis Of Psychiatry by Sadock, Sadock and Ruiz

https://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-Sadocks-Synopsis-Psychiatry-Behavioral/dp/1609139712/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537285344&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=synopsis+of+psychiatry+11th+ed&dpPl=1&dpID=51Zh0rYBDaL&ref=plSrch

Pocket DSM - V

https://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Guide-DSM-5-Diagnostic-Exam/dp/1585624667/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537285418&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pocket+dsm+v&dpPl=1&dpID=41n2aRvk4KL&ref=plSrch#

This is quite a lot, I promise.

As far as literature goes, Transference Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality DO addresses this. Kernberg, Yeoman and Clarkin.

https://www.amazon.com/Transference-Focused-Psychotherapy-Borderline-Personality-Disorder/dp/1585624373

I saw this while I was on Amazon. Might be worth a look.

Sure, you can buy it on Amazon for an ungodly amount of money.
http://www.amazon.com/Total-Synthesis-II-Strike/dp/096582912X

You can get Sources here:
http://www.amazon.com/Sources-Strike/dp/0965829111/ref=sr_1_17?s=books both by Strike.

...but the books were written using the material found in the forum.

BPD patient here (yes, I do read about how I can be treated...) I found this book very tactful and sophisticated. Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Clinical Guide

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1585624373/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_EDJJybJR23AAK

Also anything written by John Gunderson and Marsha Linehan.

> the point made generalizes to both authors. Sorry for the confusion.

True. For a few examples, see the Amazon reviews of TSII: https://www.amazon.com/Total-Synthesis-II-Strike/dp/096582912X/