In third grade I started hearing voices, seeing people chasing me, feeling paranoid, confused, and delusional. I can’t remember before third grade, but it is likely that I have had schizoaffective disorder all my life. I was afraid to tell anyone about my issues because I was afraid that the voices would kill me. There were two main voices: the blue and the red. They sometimes just mimicked me, or made me feel guilty about being bad, but they were the most dangerous when they commanded me to kill other people or myself. I found refuge from the voices by cutting myself to see the blood. This is a habit that has been almost impossible for me to stop. In the seventh grade I threatened my friends and teachers by writing anonymous threat notes. I eventually got caught and I was sent to a psychiatrist by the school. This was my first trip to a psychiatrist and I was eleven years old. I hated it. I cursed at her and wouldn’t cooperate. I never went back. When I was twelve my family moved to Seattle, Washington. I thought I would be able to start over with my life and escape all my pain. Unfortunately, the voices and fears followed me. I was in eighth grade and I started hanging with a bad crowd. I used drugs and had sex. The voices were telling me I was a bad person, so I acted like a bad person. I almost got kicked out of school. I hit rock bottom on December 5, 1997. I attempted suicide. No one had any idea how much pain I was in and this really surprised them. My parents went into shock. My school counselor who had been helping had no idea that I was so severely ill. I told the doctors about the voices and the visions, but I couldn’t admit to being paranoid because I was so sure that my delusions were real. The doctors tried to help me, but nothing helped. I was in the hospital for most of my senior year of high school. Finally I turned eighteen and I was sent to the adult medical center instead of the children’s hospital and I was told that I would never be able to graduate college or live on my own. This did not stop me though, it inspired me. My family found a hospital for me in Massachusetts and I moved to Boston into an Adolescent Residential Treatment Center where I got to see a specialist in child psychotic disorders. She found a medicine that my doctors in Seattle had not thought of trying and it was like a miracle drug. Soon I was out of the hospital and I was back in school, part-time at Brandeis University. My whole family moved to Weston, MA and my little brother started high school there. My older brother went to college in Western MA. Although I was happy to be back in school, I was having a lot of side effects from the medications and I had a hard time concentrating. Brandeis did not have a lot of experience dealing with people with mental illness, or at least I don’t think they did because I felt very alone there. At Brandeis I was majoring in creative writing. After two years I transferred to Simmons College and I am a nursing major. I can’t wait to get my R.N. and help patients. My family is moving into Boston soon. My life is going great. I have had a lot of physical setbacks—heart problems, diabetes, seizures, hypothyroid, congenital adrenal hyperoplasia, stomach issues, and most recently gallstones. Still, my schizoaffective disorder has been the hardest thing to manage. I hope this book will help some families that are dealing with mental illness. It shows that kids can make it through psychosis. It also helps families understand what psychosis is really like.

First Published in 2007. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This groundbreaking volume thoroughly explores the intriguing and sometimes baffling phenomenon of positive adaptation to stress by children who live under conditions of extreme vulnerability. Examining the determinants of risk, the development of competence in the midst of hardship, and the nature of stress-resilience, THE INVULNERABLE CHILD will be of profound interests to psychiatrists, developmental and clinical psychologists, social workers, nurses, educators and social scientists, and all those involved in the psychosocial well being of children.

The major purpose of this handbook is to provide a comprehensive review of current clinical descriptions, research, and theories of psychopathology. Descrip tive psychopathology is a field that is the foundation of clinical practice and re search in clinical psychology, psychiatry, psychiatric social work, psychiatric nursing, and allied professions in mental health. Psychopathology is often per ceived as "a stepchild" of the more glamorous areas of diagnosis or assessment and therapy or behavioral change. Nevertheless, it is doubtful that any meaningful advancements in these areas will occur until there is a thorough understanding of the behavioral disorders. The purpose of the present project was to devise a handbook that covered both general and specific topics in psychopathology and that would be useful to re searchers, practitioners, and graduate or other advanced students in the mental health professions. In order to implement this plan, we selected very carefully colleagues whom we respect for their expertise in particular fields. These include both clinicians and researchers with outstanding national reputations, as well as more junior behavioral scientists and clinicians who, in our opinion, will achieve similar recognition in the future. The chapters in this book lead us to believe that we have chosen wisely. We would like to express our appreciation to these authors for their outstanding contributions and cooperation.

Can early, need-adapted treatment prevent the long-terms effects of psychosis? How important is phase-specific treatment? Evolving Psychosis explores the success of psycho-social treatments for psychosis in helping patients recover more quickly and stay well longer. Mental health professionals from all over the world share their clinical experience and scientific findings to shed new light on the issues surrounding need-specific treatment. They cover: The Nature of Psychosis, Early Intervention in Psychosis, Phase-Specific Treatment of Psychosis and The Need for Integration. Particular attention is paid to the how treatment can be improved with individually tailored treatment programmes, early intervention, more integration between psychological treatments, and new and better diagnostic concepts. This book incorporates new and controversial ideas which will stimulate discussion regarding the benefits of early, need-adapted treatment. It will be of interest to psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals interested in psycho-social approaches to psychosis.

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.