In this era of revolutionary progress in the areas of science and
medicine, it comes as no surprise that knowledge of the biology of
mental illness and psychopharmacologic treatments has increased
greatly within the past few decades. During this same time frame,
however, the experiential side of mental illness has been almost
completely neglected by researchers and educators. Fortunately, the
trend is being reversed. Leading authorities are becoming
increasingly aware that the personal experiences of people with
severe and persistent mental illness can reveal the most
authentic--and perhaps most helpful--information on behaviors that
have long puzzled professionals in the field. This has contributed
to a renewed and growing interest in learning more about the ways
people experience mental illness and the process of recovery.
Leading the way in redressing the imbalance, this book examines the
subjective experiences of patients with multiple diagnoses,
including schizophrenia, bipolar illness, major endogenous
depression, and other disorders with psychotic features and
long-term disabling consequences. Numerous personal accounts are
drawn from research reports, newsletters, journals, spoken reports,
and observed behavior to shed light on the inner worlds of people
afflicted with severe and persistent mental illness.
The volume covers a wide range of topics, starting with
disturbances in the sense of self, in emotions, relationships, and
behaviors, and in the ways reality is experienced by the mentally
ill. In the process, some common patterns of lifetime experience
are revealed even among patients with great differences in levels
of functional capability andin their emotional and rational
assessment of their experience.
The final section of the book is directed toward understanding the
process of acceptance, growth toward recovery, and the development
of an acceptable identity and new purpose in life.
Material is presented within the conceptual framework of coping and
adaptation and self theory; in addition, considerable attention is
given to the patient's perception of which types of personal and
professional relationships have been helpful or not helpful. As a
result, the book yields important lessons--from the patients
themselves--on how service providers, caregivers, and the community
at large can be most helpful to those afflicted with major mental
illness.
Professionals who wish to increase their capacity for empathy,
develop more effective rehabilitation strategies, and advance
research linking brain anomalies and patient experience will find
this book illuminating. Because it illustrates in moving and
powerful ways how people truly experience psychiatric disability in
a society that demeans their condition and in a helping environment
that only dimly understands their agony, the book will be extremely
useful for psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers,
psychiatric nurses, educators, and graduate students in
psychopathology and clinical skills training.
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