Mental - First Published 2019. Updated Edition published 2021.
Psychiatrist Dr Steve Ellen and comedian Catherine Deveny combine forces to demystify the world of mental health. Providing an insider perspective, they share their personal experiences of mental illness and unpack the current knowledge about conditions and treatments. What do we know? What don’t we know? How do we get help? What actually works?
Punctuated with anecdotes, real-life stories and reflections on the cultural and historical context, Mental is an irreverent and entertaining guide to the full spectrum of mental health issues – from depression and anxiety to schizophrenia, personality disorders and substance abuse.
Set to become a go-to guide for anyone with a mental illness or supporting someone who has one, Mental breaks the taboos around mental health and offers clear practical advice on how to live successfully.
I wrote this short novel as a 12th birthday present for my partner's daughter, Severine, in July 2024.
It's an adventure set in Bali, about a young girl who leads her family and villagers to fight off monkey men invaders.
Feel free to download and share with any young people.
Note - written with the help of the AI program Sudowrite (which I recommend!!). The artwork was also done using AI - mostly ChatGPT and Midjourney
Cheers
Steve
https://www.steveellen.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Warrior-Princess-Sevie.pdf
PS Ignore the "Buy" button below. It's free, but I do not know how to remove the button 🙂
The Cancer Mind Care self-help online platform was developed and launched in 2021. It provides Australia’s first ‘one-stop-shop’ for tailored mental health support for people with cancer, their support persons, clinicians and First Nations peoples.
Our platform is designed to be a safe haven, offering free and accessible support. It's a non-threatening first step towards accessing cancer psychology support and services, all while maintaining your anonymity.
This project is a collaboration between the Western & Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (WCMICS), the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Gippsland Regional Integrated Cancer Service (GRICS).
Navigating Psychological Care in Cancer
This is a video I made with psychologist, Ella Sexton.
The video explains the five key pillars of good mental health: sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress management and healthy relationships.
This is the United Kingdon version of Mental, specific to the NHS and edited by a UK psychiatrist.
Psychiatrist Dr Steve Ellen and comedian Catherine Deveny combine forces to demystify the world of mental health. Providing an insider perspective, they share their personal experiences of mental illness and unpack the current knowledge about conditions and treatments. What do we know? What don’t we know? How do we get help? What actually works?
Punctuated with anecdotes, real-life stories and reflections on the cultural and historical context, Mental is an irreverent and entertaining guide to the full spectrum of mental health issues – from depression and anxiety to schizophrenia, personality disorders and substance abuse.
Set to become a go-to guide for anyone with a mental illness or supporting someone who has one, Mental breaks the taboos around mental health and offers clear practical advice on how to live successfully.
This is the Chinese version of Mental, translated to Mandarin, specific to the Chinese health system, and edited by Chinese psychiatrists.
Psychiatrist Dr Steve Ellen and comedian Catherine Deveny combine forces to demystify the world of mental health. Providing an insider perspective, they share their personal experiences of mental illness and unpack the current knowledge about conditions and treatments. What do we know? What don’t we know? How do we get help? What actually works?
Punctuated with anecdotes, real-life stories and reflections on the cultural and historical context, Mental is an irreverent and entertaining guide to the full spectrum of mental health issues – from depression and anxiety to schizophrenia, personality disorders and substance abuse.
Set to become a go-to guide for anyone with a mental illness or supporting someone who has one, Mental breaks the taboos around mental health and offers clear practical advice on how to live successfully.
Psych-Lite is the shortest psych textbook you'll ever read.
Rob and I co-wrote Psych-Lite after realising that students in the various health courses finished their six to eight-week psychiatry rotations before they understood the basics of the various disorders and treatments and missed the opportunity to understand what was happening to the patients they met. We decided they needed a book they could read the night before they started their courses or at least during the first few days.
Here's an AI inspired-description of Psych-Lite
A new Australian text that provides a concise introduction to psychiatry, essential for medical students
This text is not just another academic tome but a practical guide designed to equip medical students with the essential knowledge they need to navigate the complex field of psychiatry. Each concise chapter is a treasure trove of fundamental information, providing a solid foundation for students beginning their psychiatry rotations. It demystifies challenging presentations such as mood disorders, personality disorders, and psychotherapies, making them more approachable and understandable.
The writing style is designed to put the reader at ease and encourage confidence in a frequently confronting discipline. The authors are clinical academics who enjoy making the complex understandable.
Key Features
Psych-Lite is not just a textbook; it's a convenient on-the-spot reference book. Its concise, informative chapters, each designed to be no longer than 1,000 words, make it easy to digest and quick to reference. Written in an approachable style, it's designed to put you at ease, ensuring you can access the information you need when you need it.
Psych-Lite - sample chapter from McGraw-Hill Education ANZ- Medical
Hi, thanks for visiting my website.
Sorry about the lack of posts. I'm taking a break while I learn to write fiction.
It might take quite a while, perhaps forever. Hopefully, I'll finish before I become like my friend in the picture.
Watch this space 😉
Cheers, Steve.
Mental is a book I co-wrote with Catherine Deveny. The first edition was published in 2019. An updated edition was published in 2021, and the book was also published in the UK with changes specific to the NHS and in China with changes specific to the Chinese health system. The details are in the 'Books' section of the website.
Here is the blurb from the publisher's website
Mental illness is too often portrayed with a sense of despair, as if it’s a life sentence. Nothing could be further from the truth. Virtually everyone improves with help, and most of the help is relatively easy to access.
How do we define mental illness? What does a diagnosis mean? What should you ask your doctor before you begin treatment? Are there alternatives to medication? What does the research show actually works?
Practitioner and professor of psychiatry Dr Steve Ellen and popular comedian Catherine Deveny combine forces to demystify the world of mental health. Sharing their personal experiences of mental illness and an insider perspective on psychiatry, they unpack the current knowledge about conditions and treatments. Punctuated with anecdotes and real-life stories, Mental covers everything from depression and anxiety to schizophrenia, personality disorders and substance abuse.
This updated edition includes a new chapter on coping with the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic, as well as updates on new drugs and therapies.
Whether you have a mental illness or support someone who does, Mental offers clear practical help, empowering you with an arsenal of tips and techniques to help build your resilience
Life on the Couch was a monthly column I wrote for The Conversation with the catch-phrase - shining a psychological light on people, culture and society. The Conversation is a unique collaboration between academics and journalists, and is the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis.
The articles can be found here, or on this website.
My bio on The Conversation can be found here.
The Conversation homepage is here.
Here is some info from The Conversation website:
Everything you read here is created by academics and journalists working together, supported by a team of digital technology experts. Our professional editors turn knowledge and insights from academics into easy-to-read articles, and make them accessible to readers like you.
All our work is free to read and free to republish under Creative Commons. We do this as a not-for-profit company guided by a clear purpose: to provide access to quality explanatory journalism essential for healthy democracy.
We place a high value on trust. All authors and editors sign up to our Editorial Charter. Contributors must abide by our Community Standards. We only allow authors to write on subjects on which they have expertise. Potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed.
Our team is led by an Editor, Misha Ketchell, and CEO, Lisa Watts. Our funding comes from partners from the university and research sector, some philanthropic organisations and more than 20,000 individual donors.
The Conversation began in Melbourne, Australia, in March 2011, created and founded by Andrew Jaspan and business strategist Jack Rejtman with support from University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis. The UK edition launched in May 2013, followed by editions in the US (2014), South Africa and France (2015), Canada, Indonesia and New Zealand (2017), Spain (2018), and Brasil (2023).