Is depression simply caused by changes in our brains? Are there other ways of understanding the experiences we diagnose as schizophrenia? What role do the broader circumstances of an individual's personal, social and cultural world play in their emotional wellbeing?

This award-winning textbook provides a ground-breaking psychological approach to understanding mental distress. Challenging the dominant biomedical model, readers are encouraged to consider mental health problems of all kinds as meaningful responses to life circumstances rather than through rigid diagnostic categories. The book argues that recovery should be based not just on medication but also psychotherapy, trauma-informed interventions, community psychology, service-user movements, and social support.

This thoroughly-updated new edition:
- Has a brand new chapter exploring issues and experiences associated with diagnoses such as ADHD and autism
- Integrates a ground-breaking new perspective, the Power Threat Meaning Framework, into the content
- Features lived experience accounts to help readers understand the real-life issues and challenges people face
- Includes running case studies to invite students to consider which interventions and treatments may be appropriate
- Includes new learning features such as Critical Reflections and In Focus boxes to highlight debates and encourage critical engagement

This is essential reading for any psychology and mental health students who want to develop a critical, clear and comprehensive understanding of mental distress.