This book challenges professional and public misconceptions of schizophrenia as an illness with intractable symptoms and inexorable mental deterioration, educating clinicians and researchers on the effectiveness of treatment to change the course of or prevent the onset of illness. The authors illustrate such effectiveness through fifteen case studies examining psychosis in diverse clients. These case studies are divided into the three phases of the illness-prodromal/clinical high risk, first-episode, chronic, and treatment-refractory-with accompanying analyses of the causes, symptoms, interventions and treatments. By depicting patients at different clinical stages of the illness, with accompanying explanations of how they got to that point, what might have been done to avoid - or has been done to achieve - this outcome, the reader will gain an appreciation of the nature of the illness and for the therapeutic potential of currently available treatments. Readers will learn about the various clinical aspects of schizophrenia and treatment including diagnosis, prognosis, clinical presentation, suicide risk, cognitive deficits, stigma, medication management, and psychosocial interventions.

This book challenges professional and public misconceptions of schizophrenia as an illness with intractable symptoms and inexorable mental deterioration, educating clinicians and researchers on the effectiveness of treatment to change the course of or prevent the onset of illness. The authors illustrate such effectiveness through fifteen case studies examining psychosis in diverse clients. These case studies are divided into the three phases of the illness-prodromal/clinical high risk, first-episode, chronic, and treatment-refractory-with accompanying analyses of the causes, symptoms, interventions and treatments. By depicting patients at different clinical stages of the illness, with accompanying explanations of how they got to that point, what might have been done to avoid - or has been done to achieve - this outcome, the reader will gain an appreciation of the nature of the illness and for the therapeutic potential of currently available treatments. Readers will learn about the various clinical aspects of schizophrenia and treatment including diagnosis, prognosis, clinical presentation, suicide risk, cognitive deficits, stigma, medication management, and psychosocial interventions.

A world-renowned psychiatrist reveals the fascinating story of psychiatry's origins, demise and redemption. Psychiatry has come a long way since the days of chaining 'lunatics' in cold cells and parading them as freakish marvels before a gaping public. But, as Jeffrey Lieberman reveals in his extraordinary and eye-opening book, the path to legitimacy for 'the black sheep of medicine' has been anything but smooth. In SHRINKS, Dr Lieberman traces the field from its birth as a mystic pseudo-science through its adolescence as a cult of 'shrinks' to its late blooming maturity since the Second World War as a science-driven profession that saves lives. With fascinating case studies and portraits of the luminaries of the field, from Sigmund Freud to Eric Kandel, SHRINKS is a gripping and illuminating read. It is also an urgent call-to-arms to dispel the stigma surrounding mental illness and to start treating it as a disease rather than a state of mind.

The body of knowledge that we have accumulated about the causes and nature of schizophrenia is prodigious, and the repertoire of evidence-based treatments is substantial and increasing. Comprehensive Care of Schizophrenia distills this corpus into the essential information that clinicians who care for persons with schizophrenia need to know. The second edition of the popular volume is thoroughly updated, offering new information on the advances in research and management since the first edition was published a decade ago. Chapters are streamlined to keep content as concise as possible, while key sections have been revised and expanded to include new information on drug therapy and advice on patient care. People with schizophrenia can suffer from multiple morbidities and disabilities, and thus may require a variety of treatments, both pharmacological and psychosocial. To cover the complex and growing field of schizophrenia management, renowned psychiatrists Jeffrey Lieberman and Robin Murray have recruited a distinguished group of researchers, practitioners and consumers of mental health care. This guide delves into to all aspects of the clinical management of schizophrenia for both the health care professional who treats patients as well as the researcher interested in the advances made in the field and their clinical application.

Antipsychotic medications are a key treatment for schizophrenia and sales of antipsychotic drugs approach $20 billion per year, with fierce marketing between the makers of the drugs. The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health sponsored the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) project to provide independent information about the comparative effectiveness of medications. CATIE was the largest, longest and most comprehensive study of schizophrenia to date. Conducted under rigorous double-blind conditions, Antipsychotic Trials in Schizophrenia presents the definitive archival results of this landmark study. The core of the book consists of chapters focused on specific outcomes that set the CATIE findings in a wider context. Also included are chapters on the design, statistical analyses and implications for researchers, clinicians and policy makers. Psychiatrists, psychiatric researchers, mental health policy makers and those working in pharmaceutical companies will all find this to be essential reading.