The Silent Epidemic: A Child Psychiatrist’s Journey beyond Death Row
by Susan D. Rich MD, MPH, DFAPA
Lulu Publishing Services


"Tragically, our indiscriminate use of alcohol during reproductive years has led to this costly yet silent epidemic through varying degrees of impairment in some exposed offspring."

In this book, readers learn startling facts that will make them rethink the role of alcohol in their lives. In the first pages of its opening, the book asserts that "Since alcohol disproportionately affects the developing brain during pregnancy, babies are often unknowingly exposed before a woman even knows she is pregnant." Then follows a sweeping overview of the symptoms associated with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. The text offers detailed research that discusses the immediate and future consequences on physical and mental health resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure. By the book's conclusion, readers have encountered unique perspectives about the ethical and moral responsibilities alcohol companies owe the public.

With the focus on preconception planning and health, this book holds the potential to be an engaging read for mothers-to-be who are concerned about the role of alcohol and drug therapies on their bodies and those of their unborn children. On a larger scale, the book tackles the alcohol epidemic plaguing the United States. More significantly, the book points to significant culture markers such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings as examples of neurodevelopmental disorder. The book also offers checklists, which help readers interact with the detailed material. Well-researched and organized, this work guides readers through examples and processes designed to help them understand an epidemic about which most Americans have never heard. As the mental health of younger generations continues to become the forefront of society's focus, this book becomes an important read for those interested in psychology, sociology, and public health.

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