- Table View
- List View
Toxic: Tackling 'Razor' and Finding the Real Me
by Neil Ruddock'Neil's book has given me a new-found appreciation of how he used the "Razor" alter ego to mask what he was going through. The recent turnaround in him, both physical and mental, is a revelation.' ALAN SHEARER'Love Neil Ruddock. One of the old school. He's honest and funny as f**k. A beautiful read and a strong bit of memoir. Well done son.' DANNY DYER'You think you know "Razor" Ruddock? Well, think again. This is a courageous and fascinating autobiography by my ex-teammate, a book which will inspire so many others to confront their past and change their life.' ROBBIE FOWLER'Neil has always been the life and soul of the party but I can't tell you how much Toxic has given me a more rounded picture of him. To have the strength and determination to transform his life is a special thing.' ROBBIE WILLIAMS'Neil's book blew my mind. Now I understand my friend's journey to finally being comfortable in his own skin.' IAN WRIGHTNeil 'Razor' Ruddock tells the inspiring and uplifting story of how he faced the battle of his life: to become a different person.In this inspiring and uplifting memoir, Neil Ruddock charts his toxic journey of self-destruction, a path littered with food addiction, plummeting self-confidence and a dangerous relationship with drink which took him to the brink of death.'Razor' was his caricature of the larger-than-life football hardman, a persona which turned from a natural extension of Ruddock's character to a comfort blanket to smother every mood, every emotion. When his front door closed, the laughter stopped. He was depressed and despairing. Football had institutionalised him. Talking about his inner feelings wasn't an option, owning up to mental health issues was an absolute no-no.In a remarkable series of confessions, and with his trademark humour and brutal honesty, Ruddock recounts how he spiralled so far out of control that he lost sight of who he really was. No matter how he was feeling, he reached for the same old answer - the mask of 'Razor' and a big night out.Following the fitting of a pacemaker and drastic stomach surgery, Ruddock has lost nine stones, firmly pressed the reset button on his life, and found the strength to free himself of the shackles of the bloke he thought he needed to be in order to become the man he always knew he was.Toxic tells the story of how Ruddock faced the battle of his life: to become a different person. No longer does he feel the need to be anything but his true self. As he now says: I'm half the man I used to be, but twice the man I used to be.'
Toxic Couples: The Psychology Of Domestic Violence
by Anna MotzDomestic violence is a major public health concern, affecting millions worldwide. It is underreported, often devastating and sometimes ends in murder. In Toxic Couples: The Psychology of Domestic Violence, Anna Motz integrates psychological and criminological data with clinical illustrations and discussion of current high-profile cases. She examines the complex manifestations and multiple causes of intimate partner violence. Motz disentangles the roles played by those involved and examines the addictive nature of these damaging partnerships. The book describes various forms of abuse, including physical, sexual and emotional, and analyses how intimate partner violence can escalate to murder. She explores important factors including: the role of addiction; homelessness and vulnerability; the intergenerational transmission of abuse; sadomasochistic relationships; honour-based violence. The book emphasizes the significance of female- as well as male-perpetrated violence and outlines the powerful impact on the children of abusive parents, extending the clinical awareness of professionals working with those affected. Toxic Couples: The Psychology of Domestic Violence is ideal for clinicians working with the victims and perpetrators of intimate partner violence, for students of psychology, gender studies and social care courses and for anyone interested in the psychological forces behind violence in relationships.]
Toxic Cultures at Work: The Eight Drivers of a Toxic Culture and a Process for Change
by James CannonAround the world and across industries, toxic workplaces are in the news. Taking a holistic approach, this book gives a succinct summary of how toxic cultures develop and shows how they can be remedied with practical takeaways for organisations. Existing books on toxic culture either skim the surface of the latest scandal or take a theoretical approach of limited use to practitioners trying to improve their organisations. Now, organisational development expert James Cannon presents an all-in-one resource based on organisational and individual psychology research that offers actionable suggestions for required change. Cannon provides a framework to understand the complexities of a toxic culture, identifying eight drivers: power, leadership personalities, values, organisation design, formal and informal systems, relations with the external environment and individual systems of motivation and reward. The book also offers a comprehensive toolkit with questionnaires and checklists to manage and achieve cultural change. Professionals and students in organisational psychology, business, and change management, as well as those with an interest in the political and social issues raised by toxic cultures, will appreciate this guide on how to tackle a problem that is much discussed but seldom solved.
Toxic Emotions: A Poison to Your Soul
by Josie OliveiraToxic emotions damage our physical and emotional health and generate vicious thinking which affects our communication, behavior, relationships and decisions. They also influence our self-image and self-esteem. Emotions and feelings are interconnected, since we are generating a feeling that can impact us in a positive or negative way, respecting the moment we allow an emotion to enter through our thoughts. <p><p>In this book the author explains how we can be freed from toxic emotions, through valuable techniques and relevant tips, in order to live an abundantly joyful and purposeful life.
Toxic Interactions and the Social Geography of Psychosis: Reflections on the Epidemiology of Mental Disorder (The International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis Book Series)
by Hugh MiddletonToxic Interactions is a review of quantitative research revealing how urban living, trauma, ethnicity, stress and familial influence the risk of troubling psychotic experiences. Each of these is reviewed in search of their social implications, and a constructivist approach identifies their common threads. The contributions of newer psychotherapeutic approaches such as Open Dialogue and Recovery programmes are considered, and a consistent interpretation emerges; that is not the observable features of disturbed mental state that deserve key attention, but how these are generally understood by others, and in particular the 'client's' close associates. Toxic Interactions and the Social Geography of Psychosis will be welcomed by all who find conventional approaches to mental health difficulties unsatisfactory, whether that is as a practitioner frustrated by the counter-productive expectations of their institutional setting, an academic exploring different perspectives a 'service user' disappointed by not experiencing the care they feel is needed, or as third party perplexed by the contradictions of contemporary psychiatry.
Toxic Men
by Lillian GlassKnow Thine Toxic Man.Toxic men come in all shapes, sizes, and dysfunctions. The trick is to know one when you see one--and how to deal with him. In this book, bestselling author and therapist Dr.Lillian Glass shows you how to identify toxic men, and gives you the specific tools you need to avoid them when you can--and handle them effectively when you cannot. This groundbreaking look at toxic men and the women who are involved with them offers a three-part approach:Part One: 10 types of toxic men, from the "Sneaky Passive Aggressive Silent But Deadly Erupting Volcano" to the "Instigating Backstabbing Meddler"Part Two: 10 ways to deal with toxic men, including the "Blow Out, Let It Go Technique" and the "Give Them Hell and Yell Technique"Part Three: How to heal after a toxic relationship, from getting professional help to making amendsWith Dr. Glass's profound yet practical advice, you can take charge of your life--and rid your relationships of toxic men once and for all. Whether you're struggling to date a decent guy or are already trapped in a toxic relationship, Dr. Glass gives you the answers you need to leave dysfunction behind--and find a man capable of a health, loving relationship.
Toxic Men: 10 Ways to Identify, Deal with, and Heal from the Men Who Make Your Life Miserable
by Lillian GlassKnow Thine Toxic Man.Toxic men come in all shapes, sizes, and dysfunctions. The trick is to know one when you see one--and how to deal with him. In this book, bestselling author and therapist Dr.Lillian Glass shows you how to identify toxic men, and gives you the specific tools you need to avoid them when you can--and handle them effectively when you cannot. This groundbreaking look at toxic men and the women who are involved with them offers a three-part approach:Part One: 10 types of toxic men, from the "Sneaky Passive Aggressive Silent But Deadly Erupting Volcano" to the "Instigating Backstabbing Meddler"Part Two: 10 ways to deal with toxic men, including the "Blow Out, Let It Go Technique" and the "Give Them Hell and Yell Technique"Part Three: How to heal after a toxic relationship, from getting professional help to making amendsWith Dr. Glass's profound yet practical advice, you can take charge of your life--and rid your relationships of toxic men once and for all. Whether you're struggling to date a decent guy or are already trapped in a toxic relationship, Dr. Glass gives you the answers you need to leave dysfunction behind--and find a man capable of a health, loving relationship.
Toxic Nourishment
by Michael EigenThis book portrays a range of individuals who seek nourishment from poisons or, to variable extents, are poisoned by the nourishment they seek. It describes the analyses leading to de-programming the patients from their toxins and intoxicators.
Toxic Nourishment and Damaged Bonds in the Work of Michael Eigen: Working with the Obstructive Object
by Loray Daws Keri S. CohenToxic Nourishment and Damaged Bonds in the Work of Michael Eigen examines Eigen’s rich phenomenological work on the Obstructive Object.The contributors to this collection explore the core theme with reference to key Eigen works, including The Psychotic Core, Psychic Deadness, Toxic Nourishment, and Damaged Bonds. This volume seeks to elaborate on the Obstructive Object through essays and poems that include poignant clinical examples, the impact of exceptionally traumatized patients on their analysts, literature comparisons, and the more "mystical aspect" of Eigen’s influence on working with the obstructive object. Essays draw from Virginia Woolf, Elena Ferrante, Wilfred Bion, D.W. Winnicott, Andrè Greene, Christopher Bollas, and Adam Phillips, among many others, in exploring injury-rage, unwanted patients, psychoanalytic faith, toxic nourishment, and damaged bonds.Toxic Nourishment and Damaged Bonds in the Work of Michael Eigen will greatly interest psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, and those interested in psychoanalytic and spiritual psychology.
Toxic People: Dealing With Dysfunctional Relationships
by Tim Cantopher'A brilliant book about how we identify the often-charming people who only spread misery.' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2BMA MEDICAL AWARDS 2020: HIGHLY COMMENDEDSome people are so stressful, they can actually make us ill. Gameplayers, bullies, users and abusers - all pose a risk to our health and welfare if we don't take action. This book presents the tools we need to deal with the toxic people in our lives who drain our energy. It explains how to make healthy relationship choices, set proper boundaries and recognize the red flags that should alert us to avoid certain people. Whether you are struggling with a narcissistic partner, or dealing with a bullying boss or a sociopathic colleague, there is practical advice that will help you not only to protect your mental wellbeing but also to thrive. You will understand the nature of the toxic workplace - how to avoid it and if necessary survive within it. If you're surrounded by the takers of this world, read this book and gain the freedom to make your own choices and live your own life.
Toxic People: Dealing With Dysfunctional Relationships
by Tim Cantopher'A brilliant book about how we identify the often-charming people who only spread misery.' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2BMA MEDICAL AWARDS 2020: HIGHLY COMMENDEDSome people are so stressful, they can actually make us ill. Gameplayers, bullies, users and abusers - all pose a risk to our health and welfare if we don't take action. This book presents the tools we need to deal with the toxic people in our lives who drain our energy. It explains how to make healthy relationship choices, set proper boundaries and recognize the red flags that should alert us to avoid certain people. Whether you are struggling with a narcissistic partner, or dealing with a bullying boss or a sociopathic colleague, there is practical advice that will help you not only to protect your mental wellbeing but also to thrive. You will understand the nature of the toxic workplace - how to avoid it and if necessary survive within it. If you're surrounded by the takers of this world, read this book and gain the freedom to make your own choices and live your own life.
Toxic Positivity: Keeping It Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy
by Whitney Goodman'I really felt like I came away with a new perspective. This book will make you want to bin your gratitude journal in the best possible way' Stylist 'This trailblazing book will help you transform your perspective about positivity' Nedra Glover Tawwab, bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace'Finally a book that explains exactly why 'positivity at all costs' backfires, and teaches us how to process our pain instead of pretending it doesn't exist.' Caroline Dooner, author of The F*uck It Diet'The counterbalance to a world that preaches 'look on the bright side' whenever life gets tough' Elizabeth Earnshaw, relationship expert and author of I Want This To WorkEvery day, we're bombarded with pressure to be positive. From 'good vibes only' and 'life is good' memes, to endless advice, to 'look on the bright side,' we're constantly told that the key to happiness is silencing negativity wherever it crops up, in ourselves and in others. Even when faced with illness, loss, breakups, and other challenges, there's little space for talking about our real feelings-and processing them so that we can feel better and move forward.But if all this positivity is the answer, why are so many of us anxious, depressed, and burned out?In this refreshingly honest guide, sought-after therapist Whitney Goodman shares the latest research along with everyday examples and client stories that reveal how damaging toxic positivity is to ourselves and our relationships, and presents simple ways to experience and work through difficult emotions. The result is more authenticity, connection, and growth - and ultimately, a path to showing up as you truly are.
Toxic Positivity: Keeping It Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy
by Whitney GoodmanA powerful guide to owning our emotions—even the difficult ones—in order to show up authentically in the world, from the popular therapist behind the Instagram account @sitwithwhit.Every day, we&’re bombarded with pressure to be positive. From &“good vibes only&” and &“life is good&” memes, to endless advice, to &“look on the bright side,&” we&’re constantly told that the key to happiness is silencing negativity wherever it crops up, in ourselves and in others. Even when faced with illness, loss, breakups, and other challenges, there&’s little space for talking about our real feelings—and processing them so that we can feel better and move forward. But if all this positivity is the answer, why are so many of us anxious, depressed, and burned out? In this refreshingly honest guide, sought-after therapist Whitney Goodman shares the latest research along with everyday examples and client stories that reveal how damaging toxic positivity is to ourselves and our relationships, and presents simple ways to experience and work through difficult emotions. The result is more authenticity, connection, and growth—and ultimately, a path to showing up as you truly are.
Toxic Positivity: Keeping It Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy
by Whitney Goodman'I really felt like I came away with a new perspective. This book will make you want to bin your gratitude journal in the best possible way' Stylist 'This trailblazing book will help you transform your perspective about positivity' Nedra Glover Tawwab, bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace'Finally a book that explains exactly why 'positivity at all costs' backfires, and teaches us how to process our pain instead of pretending it doesn't exist.' Caroline Dooner, author of The F*uck It Diet'The counterbalance to a world that preaches 'look on the bright side' whenever life gets tough' Elizabeth Earnshaw, relationship expert and author of I Want This To WorkEvery day, we're bombarded with pressure to be positive. From 'good vibes only' and 'life is good' memes, to endless advice, to 'look on the bright side,' we're constantly told that the key to happiness is silencing negativity wherever it crops up, in ourselves and in others. Even when faced with illness, loss, breakups, and other challenges, there's little space for talking about our real feelings-and processing them so that we can feel better and move forward.But if all this positivity is the answer, why are so many of us anxious, depressed, and burned out?In this refreshingly honest guide, sought-after therapist Whitney Goodman shares the latest research along with everyday examples and client stories that reveal how damaging toxic positivity is to ourselves and our relationships, and presents simple ways to experience and work through difficult emotions. The result is more authenticity, connection, and growth - and ultimately, a path to showing up as you truly are.
Toxic Relationship Recovery: Your Guide to Identifying Toxic Partners, Leaving Unhealthy Dynamics, and Healing Emotional Wounds after a Breakup
by Jaime MahlerLet go of your toxic partner, heal your emotional wounds, and set healthy boundaries for future relationships with this step-by-step guide to overcoming toxic relationships.From red flags to crossed boundaries, to lies and gaslighting, you&’ve recognized that you were or currently are in a toxic relationship. But now what? It&’s time to fully let the relationship go and begin to heal. With Toxic Relationships, you&’ll address the ways that you were wronged during your relationship. You&’ll learn strategies for how to trust other people and yourself again after being gaslit, find the warning signs of toxicity and narcissism in others, and reframe negative, harmful thoughts to a positive outlook on life. As you work to let go of the toxic relationship that ate away at your happiness, you&’ll learn how to carve out space for you to be happy on your own and to love yourself for who you are. When you&’re ready to enter another relationship, you&’ll implement healthy boundaries and clear communication. Put yourself first with Toxic Relationships.
The Toxic Schoolhouse (Work, Health and Environment Series)
by Madeleine Kangsen Scammell Charles LevensteinThe Toxic Schoolhouse is a collection of articles on chemical hazards endangering students, teachers, and staff in the education system of the United States and Canada. Some of the articles were originally published in a special issue of New Solutions: A Journal of Occupational and Environmental Policy, but all have been updated and several new articles have been added. The book is organized in three sections. The first describes problems ranging from the failures of coordination, monitoring, and siting of school buildings to the hazards of exposure to toxic substances, including lead and PCBs. The second section captures the voices of activists seeking change and describes community and union organizing efforts to improve school conditions. The third section covers policy "solutions." The authors include academics, union staff and rank-and-file activists, parent organization leaders, and public health professionals.
Toxic Stress: A step-by-step guide to managing stress (The Flag Series #5)
by Dr Harry Barry'This is a truly ground-breaking, innovative and profoundly enlightening work. Dr Harry Barry leads the reader on a holistic journey through the mind and its emotional responses in a way that is both explorative and explanatory' National Counselling Institute of Ireland'It's that rare thing - a medical book that can be read by lay people and health professionals alike. Dr Barry demystifies subjects that touch so many of our lives and he does so with compassion, wisdom and vast professional knowledge' Cathy Kelly, bestselling author and UNICEF ambassadorIdentify and manage stress with this practical, seven-step programme by bestselling author and GP, Dr Harry BarryIn the world we live in, stress comes from a multiple number of sources, including pressures at work, relationship difficulties and illness. Most people can usually take what life throws at them; but when stress builds up, it can overwhelm an individual and lead to potentially serious health problems. Toxic stress is an indispensable tool on coping with the stresses of modern life. By identifying the different kinds of stress and in particular the dangers of 'toxic' stress, Dr Barry shows us how to discover where our stress is coming from and how we can effectively confront, manage and reduce it in our lives.Previously published as Flagging Stress: Toxic Stress and How to Avoid It, this edition has been fully revised and updated.
Toxic Stress: How Stress Is Making Us Ill and What We Can Do About It
by Lawson R. WulsinOur stress response system is magnificent - it operates beneath our awareness, like an orchestra of organs playing a hidden symphony. When we are healthy, the orchestra plays effortlessly, but what happens when our bodies face chronic stress, and the music slips out of tune? The alarming rise of stress-related conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and depression, show the price we're paying for our high-pressure living, while global warming, pandemics and technology have brought new kinds of stress into all our lives. But what can we do about it? Explore the fascinating mysteries of our hidden stress response system with Dr. Wulsin, who uses his decades of experience to show how toxic stress impacts our bodies; he gives us the expert advice and tools needed to prevent toxic stress from taking over. Chapter by chapter, learn to help your body and mind recover from toxic stress.
Toxikologie für Einsteiger
by Holger Barth Katharina Ernst Panagiotis PapatheodorouIn diesem kurzen Lehrbuch werden grundlegende wissenschaftliche und klinische Aspekte der Toxikologie dargestellt und ihre wichtigsten Inhalte, Ziele und Aufgaben beschrieben. Das Buch richtet sich an Studierende biowissenschaftlicher und chemischer Bachelor- und Masterstudiengänge, die Toxikologie als medizinisches Wahlfach belegen. Zu Beginn werden wichtige toxikologische Fachbegriffe definiert, um den Einstieg zu erleichtern. Es wird beschrieben was ein „Gift“ ausmacht und wie Giftstoffe in den menschlichen Körper gelangen können. Akute Vergiftungen, ihre Ursachen und die wichtigsten Maßnahmen für ihre Therapie werden im Einzelnen vorgestellt. Der Großteil des Lehrbuches beschreibt die Wirkung ausgewählter, medizinisch relevanter Giftstoffe aus Natur und Umwelt, häuslicher Umgebung und dem Arbeitsplatz wie Toxine aus Tieren, Pflanzen, Pilzen und Bakterien, Giftgase, Stäube, Metalle, Pestizide, Lösungsmittel und Alkohol. Am Ende werden die grundlegenden Prinzipien der chemischen Kanzerogenese zusammengefasst und die krebsauslösende Wirkung einiger toxikologisch wichtiger Substanzen exemplarisch vorgestellt sowie rechtliche Grundlagen im Umgang mit Giftstoffen zusammengefasst.
Toxisch
by Rainer Biesinger Max KluteDurch den Konsum von Rauschdrogen ballern sich tagtäglich Millionen von Menschen aus ihrer subjektiv gefühlten Realität heraus. Angefangen bei Alkohol und Nikotin haben wir es heute mit einem verantwortungslosen, unkultivierten und gefährlichen Konsumverhalten zu tun. Dieses Buch stellt die durchaus erlaubte und provokative Frage, ob die derzeitige Drogenpolitik noch „up to date“ ist, bzw. wo sie durch ihre restriktive Herangehensweise nicht völlig versagt hat!? Wo liegen die Ursachen dieses Konsumverhaltens und wie ist es um einen liberalisierten und aufgeklärten Umgang mit gewissen Substanzen bestimmt? Mit diesem mutigen und investigativen Werk nehmen die beiden Autoren eine authentische Perspektive zum Thema Rauschdrogen in Deutschland ein. Und sie wissen, wovon sie reden! Ein Buch für User, Neugierige, Eltern, Pädagogen, Therapeuten, Ärzte, Sozialarbeiter, Interessierte der Drogenverbotsdebatte und alle, denen etwas daran liegt, dass die Gesellschaft in Sachen Suchtprävention und Selbstbestimmungsrecht von Konsumenten endlich wach wird und handelt.Inklusive Videointerviews mit den Autoren und Geleitworte von Kriminalbiologe Dr. Mark Benecke, Jugendrichter Andreas Müller und dem Grimme-Preisträger $ick.
Toxische Kommunikation als Krankheitsursache in Unternehmen: Das Double Bind-Phänomen – eine Einführung für Führungskräfte, Berater, Coaches (essentials)
by Angelika KutzIn diesem essential untersucht Angelika Kutz die Selbstwert-Vernichtungsmaschinerie des toxischen Kommunikations-Musters ,,Double Bind" als mögliche Ursache der meisten psychisch bzw. psychosomatisch bedingten Ausfälle in Unternehmen sowie hilfreiche Gegenmaßnahmen. Ziel der Autorin ist es, die krankheitsfördernden Kommunikations-Strukturen des Double Binds transparent zu machen. Dies dient der Entlastung von Betroffenen und Führungskräften sowie der Unterstützung für Coaches im Beratungskontext, da krankheitsbedingte Fehlzeiten aufgrund psychischer Erkrankungen heute kontinuierlich zunehmen.
Toy Stories: Analyzing the Child in Nineteenth-Century Literature
by Vanessa SmithToy Stories: Analyzing the Child in Nineteenth-Century Literature explores the stakes of recurrent depictions of children’s violent, damaging, and tenuously restorative play with objects within a long nineteenth century of fictional and educational writing. As Vanessa Smith shows us, these scenes of aggression and anxiety cannot be squared with the standard picture of domestic childhood across that period. Instead, they seem to attest to the kinds of enactments of infant distress we would normally associate with post-psychoanalytic modernity, creating a ripple effect in the literary texts that nest them: regressing developmental narratives, giving new value to wooden characters, exposing Realism’s solid objects to odd fracture, and troubling distinctions between artificial and authentic interiority. Toy Stories is the first study to take these scenes of anger and overwhelm seriously, challenging received ideas about both the nineteenth century and its literary forms. Radically re-conceiving nineteenth-century childhood and its literary depiction as anticipating the scenes, theories, and methodologies of early child analysis, Toy Stories proposes a shared literary and psychoanalytic discernment about child’s play that in turn provides a deep context for understanding both the “development” of the novel and the keen British uptake of Melanie Klein’s and Anna Freud’s interventions in child therapy. In doing so, the book provides a necessary reframing of the work of Klein and Freud and their fractious disagreement about the interior life of the child and its object-mediated manifestations.
Toy Story and the Inner World of the Child: Animation, Play, and Creative Life
by Karen CrossToy Story and the Inner World of the Child offers the first comprehensive analysis of the role of toys and play within the development of film and animation. The author takes the reader on a journey through the complex interweaving of the animation industry with inner world processes, beginning with the early history of film. Karen Cross explores digital meditations through an in-depth analysis of the Pixar Studios and the making of the Toy Story franchise. The book shows how the Toy Story functions as an outlet for exploring fears and anxieties relating to new technologies and industrial processes and the value of taking a psycho-cultural approach to recent controversies surrounding the film industry, particularly its cultural and sexual politics. The book is key reading for film and animation scholars as well as those who are interested in applications of psychoanalysis to popular culture and children's media.
Toying with Childhood: Tracing the Child-Toy Bond from Britain and America to India
by Usha MudigantiThis book studies the dialectic relationship between the image of the child and the toy in literary depictions of childhood in 19th- and 20th- century Anglo-American fiction. Drawing from the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, D.W. Winnicott, and Sudhir Kakar, it analyses themes such as the heterogeneity of childhood and the construction of the ideals of childhood. It explores the linkages between the ideals of childhood in Britain and its travel to America and further dissemination in British India. It discusses the established tropes of childhood such as innocence, a formative period, the centrality of play, and the presence of a toy to argue that the mores of childhood are culturally constructed and lead to the reification of a child into an image of perfection. The author problematises the notion of essential innocence and discusses the repercussions of such stereotypes about childhood. The work also highlights parallels between the ideals of childhood established in 19th-century Britain and the portrayals of postcolonial Indian childhoods in 20th-century Indian English literature. Toying with Childhood will be useful for students and researchers of education, childhood studies, psychology, sociology, literature, gender studies, and development studies. It will also appeal to general readers interested in cultural perceptions of childhood, literary depictions of children, and the works of Sigmund Freud.