In this volume a number of British psychoanalysts introduce us to psychoanlaytic definitions of intra-psychic and subjective meaning in patients suffering psychotic conditions. Irrespective of the particular type of psychotic illness under consideration of the context or treatment, each paper illustrates how the psychoanalytic clinician searches to establish meaning from events which are highly complex and often overwhelmingly confusing.Contributors: "Psychosis and violence" Leslie Sohn; "Sorrow, Vulnerability and Madness", Michael Conran; "How Can You Keep Your Hair On?", Michael Sinason; "The Delusions of the Non-Remitting Schizophrenias - Parallels with Childhood Phantasies", Thomas Freeman; "Managing Psychotic Patients in a Day Hospital Setting", Richard Lucas; "Desctructive Narcissism" and "The Singing Detective", David Bell.

The experience of madness – which might also be referred to more formally as ‘schizophrenia’ or ‘psychosis’ – consists of a complex, confusing and often distressing collection of experiences, such as hearing voices or developing unusual, seemingly unfounded beliefs. Madness, in its various forms and guises, seems to be a ubiquitous feature of being human, yet our ability to make sense of madness, and our knowledge of how to help those who are so troubled, is limited. Making Sense of Madness explores the subjective experiences of madness. Using clients' stories and verbatim descriptions, it argues that the experience of 'madness' is an integral part of what it is to be human, and that greater focus on subjective experiences can contribute to professional understandings and ways of helping those who might be troubled by these experiences. Areas of discussion include: how people who experience psychosis make sense of it themselves scientific/professional understandings of ‘madness' what the public thinks about ‘schizophrenia’ Making Sense of Madness will be essential reading for all mental health professionals as well as being of great interest to people who experience psychosis and their families and friends.

Severe mental illness afflicts many men and women throughout their lives, often without warning, and almost always with devastating results. This book takes a look at psychosis, and contends that although the delusions and hallucinations of the psychotic person are misguided and confused, they are understandable when viewed in the context of a person's life. Using real life examples, Capps covers the prevalence of psychotic illness; the long-range effects of deinstitutionalization on mentally ill persons, their families, and their communities; family members' responses to their mentally ill relative; rehabilitation and prevention approaches and methods; the nature of delusions and hallucinations; the delusional belief that one is someone else; and the realization of mental stability.

This work explores the use of drama and theatre in the challenging area of working with people who hear voices, focusing especially on survivors of abuse and those diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia.

Description""A mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder can seriously affect one's appraisal of life. Both in a negative way and a positive way. In a negative way, to try to function like a normal adult in today's fiercely competitive world whilst under the influence of loads of medication, life can be a very hard battle. Believe me it is hard. From a positive perspective, coping with life whilst being schizophrenic can enable one to step back from life and obtain a view of it that most people do not ever have. To engineer one's life with enough skill and alacrity to ensure one obtains at least some satisfaction from it depends on things I do not understand. Perhaps some people do. But the secret of happiness seems, on the face of it, to be once again a subjective issue. Something only you alone can deal with."" And this is what this book does: this book is one man's attempt to imbue life, writing and art with meaning, understanding and happiness. It is senseful, compassionate and creative to an unusual degree. About the AuthorTom McNeight lives in Wanganui, New Zealand. In spite of his diagnosis as a paranoid schizophrenic, with the discrimination he has often experienced and the many manual occupations he has had to work at, he has lived an interesting and exciting life. This includes such adventures as mountaineering, parachuting, bungy jumping, tramping and working in the bush, and fishing. He has completed many philosophy papers at university and has developed a skill in both writing and painting. He continues to enjoy these activities, frequently holding painting exhibitions and writing new books. His other continuing hobby is fishing.

Hysteria as a neurosis seems to have disappeared altogether from the psychiatric manuals; but there are articles here and there, particularly in the United States and France, which advocate the existence of hysteria as a psychosis. Hysterical psychosis is the clinical combination of a hysterical personality with a seemingly psychotic state. Looking back to nineteenth-century psychiatry, Katrien Libbrecht attempts to answer the question: Is there such a thing as a hysterical psychosis or are we dealing with hysteria exhibiting psychotic features? Hysterical Psychosis is divided into three sections. The first part of the book carries the reader back to the second half of the nineteenth century, the heyday of the study of hysteria on the eve of the discovery of psychonanalysis. The second part of the book discusses the implications of the generalized impact of Bleuler's concept of schizophrenia during the interbellum period. The last section of the book deals with the current reemergence of hysterical psychosis from the 1960s to the 1990s. Libbrecht provides a historical survey of the most important psychiatric and psychoanalytic references on hysterical psychosis, as well as a review of current research on the matter. She sheds new light on reasons for the disappearance of the diagnosis of hysteria rn the 1950s and the emergence of the notion of hysterical psychosis during the 1960s. Hysterical Psychosis is a landmark study that is essential for psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, medical practitioners, and historians of psychology.

This volume explores the history and historiography of madness from the ancient and medieval worlds to the present day. Covering Africa, Asia and South America as well as Europe and North America, chapters discuss broad topics such as the representation of madness in literature and the visual arts, the material culture of madness, madness within life histories and the increased globalization of knowledge and treatment practices. Chronologically and geographically wide-ranging and providing a fascinating overview of the current state of the field, this is essential reading for all students of the history of madness, mental health, psychiatry and medicine.

The insight a patient shares into their own psychosis is fundamental to their condition - it goes to the heart of what we understand 'madness' to be. Can a person be expected to accept treatment for a condition that they deny they have? Can a person be held responsible for their actions if those actions are inspired by their own unique perceptions and beliefs - beliefs that no-one else shares? The new edition of this unique book shows how we can better understand the patient's view of their illness, and provides valuable advice for all those involved in the treatment of mental illness.

The Routledge International Handbook of Perinatal Mental Health Disorders comprehensively presents the leading, global research in understanding and clinically treating perinatal mental health disorders. In this wide-ranging book, Wenzel invites a global community of scholars and practitioners working in perinatal mental health to discuss contemporary empirical research in the field and how this can be applied in practice. Presented in five parts, the book begins by laying out the historical context of the field before exploring prenatal and postpartum mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug misuse, eating disorders, and insomnia. Chapters describe different interventions, such as mindfulness-based interventions, integrative interpersonal psychotherapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy, before addressing specific special issues, such as fathers’ experiences, 2SLGBTQ+ individuals, and perinatal mental health disorders in migrant women. Designed to have international relevance, each chapter includes case studies and sections on cultural considerations, and clinical dialogue is used throughout to illustrate specific applications of contemporary empirical research to clinical practice. This handbook is essential reading for clinicians who have an interest in issues associated with perinatal mental health disorders, as well as students of clinical social work, clinical psychiatry, clinical psychology, obstetrics and gynecology, nursing, and midwifery.

Fresh perspectives on the unique role of art therapy in the treatment of psychosis. Using clinical material and many examples of clients' work, experienced practitioners describe working with patients in a variety of settings.