Book Description
Schizophrenia is the archetypal form of madness. Schizophrenia is a common disorder and has a devastating effect on sufferers and their families-patients typically hear voices in their heads and hold bizarre beliefs. The schizophrenic patient presented to the public in sensational press reports and lurid films bears little resemblance to reality of the illness. This book describes what schizophrenia is really like, how the illness progresses, and the treatments that have been applied. It also summarizes the most up-to-date knowledge available about the biological bases of this disorder. Finally it attempts to give some idea of what it is like to have schizophrenia and what this disorder tells us about the relationship between mind and brain. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good general overview of schizophrenia
I am a layman and read this book because I wanted to get a general overview of schizophrenia. It is the first book I read about schizophrenia (although I am familiar with DSM-IV) so I cannot compare it to other works specifically devoted to the subject.All I can say is that it met my needs very well.

Both authors appear to have strong academic credentials as well as extensive clinical experience with schizophrenia.(Christopher Frith is Professor of Neuropsychology at University College London and author of _The Cognitive Neuropsychology of Schizophrenia_ (1992).Eve C. Johnstone is Professor and Head of the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh and author of _Schizophrenia: Concepts and Clinical Management_ (1999).)They look at schizophrenia both as a disease that afflicts individuals and as a public health issue, and cover the symptoms, causes and treatment of the illness.

They discuss how the definition of the disease has evolved over time and continues to evolve as the priorities of the various symptoms change and the disease becomes better understood.They discuss both positive symptoms like delusions, hallucinations and disordered thought and negative symptoms like affective flattening and avolition.They pay special attention to auditory hallucinations ("voices") and delusions of control (imagined external control of body movements) and offer explanations of them based on improper working of feedback loops within the brain.They review different theories of the causes of schizophrenia and seem to give much more credence to physical (neurological) explanations (including heredity and circumstances of gestation and birth) than to psychogenic (purely "mental") ones (dysfunctional parents, double bind, etc.). Similarly they review different approaches to treatment and see much more significant results from antipsychotic drugs than from psychotherapy.In terms of the care of schizophrenia sufferers, they believe that the outcome for schizophrenia is generally poor (meaning that people who develop it generally do not fully recover from it), and I think they believe that suffers are generally better taken care of in institutional than in community settings. They claim that the common notion that schizophrenics have a strong propensity to violence is empirically not true but still recognize that there is a greater than average risk.I assume that their views are, over all, fairly standard, though probably not universal, within the medical and healthcare communities.

I would say that the attitude of the authors towards the disease is not purely academic/clinical/managerial and but includes an element of genuine compassion for the sufferers as well as their families and care givers.I think the main hope that they hold out is that the neurological mechanisms underlying the disease will in time become well understood and that preventive and curative approaches based on those mechanisms will be developed.

The contents of the book are:

1. The experience of schizophrenia
2. The concept of schizophrenia
3. Intellectual functioning of schizophrenia
4. Schizophrenia and drugs
5. Biological factors
6. Environment factors
7. Understanding the symptoms of schizophrenia
8. The importance of Schizophrenia
References
Further reading
Index

References are essentially endnotes.There are no footnotes in the book. ... Read more

Book Description
The neuropathology of schizophrenia is one of the most controversial areas of research in psychiatry; however, in the last twenty years, there have been significant advances in our understanding of the topic. This book provides a much needed, balanced, comprehensive and up-to-date overview of this rapidly moving field.It starts by describing the findings derived from new imaging techniques and histological studies, focusing specifically on the morphology, arrangement and connectivity of the neurons making up the cortical cytoarchitecture, a feature thought to be central to understanding the pathology.This is followed by critical appraisal of the various interpretations placed upon these findings, such as the neurodevelopmental hypothesis.Finally, there are chapters considering the conceptual and methodological problems affecting the subject.This is a timely and unique book on this classic and controversial issue, with contributions from many of the leading international experts in the field. ... Read more

Book Description
Cognitive Remediation Therapy for Schizophrenia describes the background and development of this new psychological therapy and demonstrates how it provides the first structured help to overcome the thinking problems associated with schizophrenia.
In three sections, the book covers the theoretical and empirical underpinning of cognitive remediation therapy and explores its application. Part one, "the development of therapy", provides the historical context and theoretical background to the therapy and emphasizes the value of the rehabilitation of cognitive deficits. In part two, "improving cognitive processes", the process and effects of changing cognition are examined. Finally, in part 3, "the process of therapy", the authors provide a clinical guide to the delivery of cognitive remediation therapy and use case examples to support its efficacy.
This book is the first to describe an individual cognitive remediation therapy programme based on a clear model of the relationship between thinking and behavior. It will be of both academic and clinical value to all those health professionals and clinical academics who want not only to understand the relationship between thought and action but also to intervene to improve therapy. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Described by Nature magazine in 1988 as "arguably the worst disease affecting mankind, even AIDS not excepted," schizophrenia is devastating for both sufferers of the affliction--more than 50 million people worldwide--and their families. Conquering Schizophrenia is one family's account of their terrible, 25-year journey to hell and back.

Jeff Wyden was a bubbly and vivacious child, described by his father as "unusually charming." In early adolescence, small changes occurred in Jeff's personality--his boundless energy was replaced with silence and a devastatingly low self-esteem. By age 21, Jeff had become severely psychotic and completely withdrawn from reality. So began the nightmare of schizophrenia. Jeff's story is eloquently told by his father, Peter Wyden. Although an inspirational book, especially for those affected by a mental illness, the Conquering Schizophrenia doesn't lapse into excessive sentimentality. Jeff is frequently portrayed as a monster, consumed by the wretched disease. Treatment options for the illness were particularly grim, including prefrontal lobotomies and electric-shock therapy. For more than two decades, Peter Wyden searched for a better answer, which eventually came with the development of new drugs. With this treatment, Jeff was "almost civilian" again. Wyden is an energetic and illuminating author who writes of a subject matter with which he has lived so closely for several decades.Book Description
This story of a father guiding his son from despair to hope is a chilling, inspiring journey through the mysterious tunnel of schizophrenia--a world once closed and forbidding, now suddenly radiating excitement as thousands of patients are, in effect, being reborn.

Jeff Wyden, a bright, happy boy in childhood, began to withdraw in adolescence, and by the age of twenty-one was severely psychotic, disconnected from reality. He was schizophrenic. In the ensuing twenty-five years, Peter Wyden accompanied his son into a hell without certainties as they searched for a solution.

We see them pass through the hands of more than fifty psychiatrists and countless hospitals, clinics, and halfway houses. Doctors and health-care providers help and sometimes hinder both father and son in their odyssey through hypnosis, electroshock, dozens of drug therapies, and disabling "side effects."

Throughout their ordeal, the father's management of his son's managers is his daily task, self-assigned despite self-doubt. He is alternately tolerant and challenging while he observes and learns, always primed for more of Jeff's mercurial signs of new crises.

Along the way we learn about the history of the treatment of schizophrenia, from barbaric stopgaps like prefrontal lobotomy to the biomedical treatments that have revolutionized psychiatry. And finally, there is the new drug Olanzapine--a godsend for Jeff, and reason for cheer. It is not a cure, but many consider it the safest, most effective treatment to date (the first of similar medications recently licensed by the Food and Drug Administration, with more on the way). The story of its development is told here for the first time.

Until now, few of us have realized that two and a half million Americans, mostly young and intelligent, are schizophrenic, merely existing through the decades, separated from reason, rendered dysfunctional by the costly and little-understood disease. Fifty million people worldwide suffer from it. This compelling and enlightening book offers useful information about what can be done for them today--and the hope of more help to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

title is a misnomer
author spends a great deal of time (xxx? pages) oscillating between blaming mental health professionals and presenting himself as a devoted father (perhaps too devoted?--i.e. overly responsible?)...furthermoreschizophrenia is not "conquered" at the end of the book...ratheronly the right drug is found--which eliminates symptoms but which, contraryto popular belief, does not "cure" mental illness (since thepatient is only well as long as he is medicated)

A veritable encyclopedia of psychiatry and mental health
Before you ransack the library trying to get straight about mental illness, just read Peter Wyden's "Conquering Schizophrenia - a Father, his Son, and a Medical Breakthrough."Wyden, a writer, tells of his son Jeff's 25-years of crippling psychosis, and his story vibrates withpassionate critique of the mental health system. His journalist's piercingeye fixes the target, while the other eye darts around, taking us on aback-street tour of psychiatry's history, players, and struggles as Wydensearches for perspective on this arena.

What is the target?Is it Jeffhimself, who went from warm,extroverted child to introverted, erraticyouth, then back to a more normal, properly medicated 46-year old man? Isit mental illness itself?Which illness?Jeff's was diagnosed as"school phobia," "anxiety," "depression,""schizophrenia - paranoid type," then "malignant case ofmanic-depressive."Perhaps it is psychiatry itself, with its"foibles,follies, and failures," and its oddly noble persistancein the face of overwhelming enigmas?

In any case, the target keepsmoving. This conveys Wyden's sense of confusion and hair-pullingfrustration through the dozens of psychiatrists, neuroleptics that ravagedthe body while they calmed the mind, the hospitals, and halfway houses thatmake up Jeff's existence.He shows us the "split" between modernmedicaters who treat the physical, and the traditional Freudians whobelieve only in the unconscious and psychoanalytic.He describes thebizarre events of pharmacology finds and the equally bizarre trip throughFDA approval.He narrates the bitter 20-year feud between Dr Spitzer andproponents of DSM series and the older therapists who call it a"straightjacket."

The sound and fury, based on the void of theunknown, rages on.There is an abyss between etiologies, and chaos aboutcategories.Signs of schizophrenia dovetail so slyly into signs ofmanic-depression (hallucinations, hyperagitation) that even"experts" can't say which is primary. Medications for one crossover for the other."My learning curve was turning erratic,"complained Wyden when Clozaril came on the scene. ". . . Anythingmight work. Anything might fail. . . There are no true experts."

Atthe book's end, Jeff is converting from Clozapin to the newer Olanzapine(the "breakthrough"), and seems to be emerging from hisdemi-world into a more responsive, organized person. His real diagnosis isstill up for grabs.

The real breakthrough is hope, for today and fortomorrow, hope that research and medicine can cut through the profounddevastation of a broken brain. Wyden has painted a realistic picture ofmajor mental illness - ambiguous, unpredictable, messy, and bankrupting. Only those who have traveled that tunnel of despair can appreciate thecandle of this seemingly promising advance.

"Conquering Schizophrenia" is thoroughly dishonest book.
"Conquering Schizophrenia" lauds Zyprexa as conqueringschizophrenia. The truth of the matter is that Zyprexa is a very, veryunpleasant medication. Zyprexa is better than other antipsychotics, butthat is faint praise. Jeff, the author's son, is left with negativesymptoms but those are the worst symptoms. The book takes the E. FullerTorrey line. Someone with schizophrenia is dumber than a pigeon. A pigeongiven something good presses the lever. Someone with schizophrenia givensomething good refuses medication. When everyone is off dopamineantagonists then a book with the title "Conquering Schizophrenia"can be written.

Extremely helpful and hopeful. Well written and thorough.

"Conquering Schizophrenia: A Father, His Son, and A Medical Breakthrough", published by Knopf, January 1998, is a father's account of the life of his son Jeff.  Jeff's break came at age twenty-one.  The book chronicles the next twenty-five years along two interwoven paths: the events in the lives of Jeff and his family and the evolution of the mental-health field during this time --its trends, controversies, therapies, medicines, practitioners, advocacy groups, agencies,economics, politics, etc.

The father/author, Peter Wyden, has published a dozen books and was formerly a writer for Newsweek. He writes in a concise, organized, journalistic style that is mercifully free of any self aggrandizement that might have been expected (he candidly acknowledges his missteps) and of any excessive sentimentality (the story itself speaks eloquently of the emotions, frustrations, struggles and celebrations that were there throughout).  He levels some very valid criticisms without being strident.  It is carefully crafted with detailed back-of-the-book chapter notes, bibliography and index for the reader who wants to dig deeper.  It is very up to date, mentioning situations as of Fall, 1997. (Of course we Internet devotees want to know how things are going this morning.)

I strongly recommend this book highly to anyone whose life has been affected by schizophrenia or by any other serious mental illness. I have been struck over the last four years (our 23-year old son was diagnosed with schizophrenia four years ago) how much I read about one mental illness that relates to the others.  (Incidentally, I have no connection to the publisher or author. I wish I did know the Wydens personally).

Jeff was treated by over 50 docs over the 25-year period. He was "treated" in every imaginable theater from the renowned Menninger Clinic, where at the time of Jeff's stay early on, probably did more harm than good, to a run-down half- way house, where he was helped greatly by a dedicated, compassionate social worker.

His symptoms when bad were very bad. He once broke a nurse's nose. He was not an easy patient and not an easy son. But those that got to know the real Jeff were very fond of him. And to his father, even after spending 25 years of struggling with Jeff over meds, docs, hygiene, etc., maybe to some extent because of those struggles, Jeff was a hero, a theme often repeated.

Family support helped (and I suspect help greatly) throughout. There were some talk/cognitive therapies here and there that helped deal with some of the problems of the underlying illness. Jeff's manic periods were helped by lithium. There were other meds that I cannot recount. A breakthrough came with Clozapine, though negative symptoms, especially lack of motivation, remained and a purposeful day, much less the possibility of a job, were not on Jeff's radar screen and he spent his hours at the half-way house. The "conquering" word in the title refers to the next breakthrough which came with Olanzapine in 1996.  Some of the negative symptoms begin to remit. The book ends with Jeff beginning to take some steps into the mainstream world and he gets involved with a local church program and one day asks his dad "Do you think you could get me a watch? I'd like to get my days organized". (!) You would have to read the whole story to understand what a wonderful ending (beginning) this is.

Perhaps I wouldn't have divulged the ending if the book only dealt with Jeff's situation. It would have been a great book if limited to just the Jeff story. Many of us could identify and empathize and imagine our own books.  Not to take away from the story, the real strength of this book for me was the second interwoven thread that dealt with the many aspects of the mental-health system as it evolved over the same twenty-five-year period and the interplay of that with Jeff's life.  The author was relentless in his researching, advocating and mainly getting to know individuals who could help his son. He knew or got to know many of the movers and shakers, those at the tops of their fields, and gleaned from them a detailed and realistic survey of the battlefield on which his son found himself. I have spent a lot of time myself the last few years reading, surfing the Web, meeting, etc., but was left with a lot of questions and perhaps was left without a a good overall perspective of how the many pieces interact.

The author does a masterful job of covering many areas and gleaning the salient features, good and bad, things you are never going to read in a journal or hear admitted for the record. For example, from a discussion with Dr. Solomon Snyder, the inventor of Prozac: "One question has run through Snyder's professional life: What exactly causes schizophrenia? ... 'We know solittle he said', he said sadly. 'There's a screw loose, but we don't know which screw.'" I think I would like to have known this four years ago rather than having to discover it over time. The book is filled with nuggets like this.

The wide-ranging areas covered include: the slow, grudging acceptance of using meds for treatment, later the doctrinaire rejections by the biological guys of the talk therapy guys, (thank goodness my son's doc is dual-track), the fights over wording of the DSM-III, the history of anti-psychotic meds (amazing twists and turns), meds in the pipeline, the R. D. Laing school, orthomolecular treatment, psychosocial treatment, electro-convulsive therapy, schizophrenogenic mothers,"Toxic Psychology" book, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" movie, Marilyn Monroe, atrocious experiments and abridgment of patient rights, sexual abuse, the history of the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill, the champions of mental health legislation in Washington, the big, profitable, competitive pharmacy business (Eli Lily sales of Olanzapine in 1997 about $850 million), the National Institute of Mental Health, various studies and meta studies (and the ongoing puzzlement), interviews with consumers, interviews with the big names, etc.

He writes of many problems/challenges: the general stumbling nature of the progress in this field, the unknown causes of the illness, the problems of diagnosis and the diagnostic categories, questions about treatment, side- effect tradeoffs, stigma, managing the managers, family stresses, under funding of research and support agencies and the crushing work loads, poverty- producing expenses, bureaucracy, on and on.

I found the book very satisfying in many ways. It most of all helps sustain our hope. And makes us appreciate the fact that despite all the difficulties we families are facing in 1998, times and prospects were much worse just a few years age. It chronicles a story we can relate to and can compare to our families' stories.  It always held up the humanity, the personality of Jeff.

It shines a light on the battlefield that still has its challenges and dangers but through which we can now walk with more confidence and with a better chance of survival or even conquest.

I wish the best to the Wydens and to all the many families doing battle. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

A Great Book for the Practioner
This is a tremendous book as it's written by a Social Worker who uses an over all biopsychosocial model.You do not see many social workers writing about therapeutic interventions who even consider biological components.

Addditionally, Hogarty hastwo additonal components to the therapeutic strategy.He does a a concise review of entitlements with the proviso that its difficult to provide therapy when someone needs, food, medical care, and housing.The reader also gets a tool to understand the research in the appendices that reviews research terminolgy and methodology.

I have looked four years for a book that has a therapeutic technique for serious psychotic illness, accepts the biology of the illness, and recognizes the immediate needs of the client.

A book written by an obvious researcher whose heart comes through the pages.

New Hope for Schizophrenia!
Gerard Hogarty's new volume, Personal Therapy for Schizophrenia and Related Disorders, is a groundbreaking work which presents an empirically-validated psychotherapeutic approach for schizophrenia based on a contemporary biopsychosocial understanding.Hogarty, a Professor of Psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has a long and distinguished career as a clinician/researcher with schizophrenia.

For over 30 years, Hogarty and his colleagues have developed a series of psychososcial interventions (major role therapy, family psychoeducation, social skills training, personal therapy , and, most recently, cognitive enhancement therapy) and submitted each to rigorous empirical trials.After each trial, he carefully examines the data and formulates new approaches which incorporate his prior research findings and empirical data from other sources.

In the volume, Hogarty presents an approach to individual psychotherapy which he entitles "personal therapy" (PT).He describes his prior research efforts, most notably his two-year study of family psychoeducation which demonstrated a dramatic reduction in relapse in the first year of treatment, but a reduction in therapeutic efficacy as time passed. While observing that ameliorating family stressors reduced relapse, he also observed that family psychoeducation had no significant impact on the personal or social adjustment of schizophrenic patients.

Based on these prior experiences, PT uses a three-phase approach, the first focusing on clinical and environmental stabilization, the second on symptom management, and the third on developing new social and vocational initiatives.Throughout all phases, all patients were maintained on antipsychotic medications which were carefully titrated to minimize side effects.The progression of patients through these phases was determined by each patient's rate of progress, not by a prearranged protocol.Until the goals of one phase were accomplished, the goals of the next phase were not initiated. The research protocol followed patients for three years, an unprecedented duration for any intervention study in schizophrenia.

Before describing the three phases of PT, Hogarty devotes a chapter to outlining "essential prerequisites" for this intervention in considerable detail noting "that for decades are program has been guided by a silent mantra: innovative psychosocial treatment is for naught unless the fundamentals of good care are firmly in place (Hogarty's emphasis). His definition of "good care" includes psychological support (attentiveness, empathy, and encouragement), material support (financial support, stable housing, case management) and skillful medication management.Unique in the treatment literature, Hogarty addresses both the oft-ignored subject of obtaining government disability benefits and the intricacies of medication management.While the details of the former will be of little interest to most British readers, his attention to such seemingly mundane, yet essential, matters is impressive. (The clinic spent over $6000 annually for transportation subsidies when these costs were an impediment to clinic attendance.)

With these prerequisites in place, the first "basic" phase of treatment is initiated as a therapeutic team continues medications, "joins" with the patient and family, and educates patients about their illness using a stress-vulnerability model.In the second "intermediate" phase, patients examine their own illness is greater detail, exploring the precipitants of relapse, and finally coping strategies for symptom management are taught.Finally, in the third "advanced" phase, patients maintain stability and apply these coping strategies as they undertake new social and vocational initiatives.

Besides outlining the essential elements of PT, Hogarty describes the three-year controlled research protocol in considerable detail.In his discussion of the data, he carefully explores the considerable improvement of the control "supportive treatment" group, examining the therapeutic effects of "good care" and clinical management enjoyed by both experimental groups.However, while there was little significant difference between both treatment groups in both symptomatic presentation and functional adjustment at the one year mark (both groups improved significantly), the control group's progress leveled off while the PT group made impressive gains over the next two years.

However, examining patters of relapse, Hogarty observed that a subgroup of PT patients who lived alone actually had a far higher rate of relapse than did patients who received "supportive treatment" only.He commented that "we wondered whether these historical negative effects of psychotherapy might have had less to do with the intervention per se and more with cognitively overwhelming life experiences" (p. 64).Not surprisingly, patients with strong family support had much better outcomes.

This sort of multidimensional data analysis is perhaps unprecedented in the field of schizophrenia research, whether involving biological or psychosocial interventions.Hogarty sifts through his research data with a refreshing deftness and honesty; when the data does not support the efficacy of his intervention model, he straightforwardly acknowledges this and attempts to learn from negative as well as positive findings.In doing so, he briefly notes his most recent attempts to enhance the cognitive functioning of schizophrenic patients, an approach which is yielding impressive results.

In spite of this impressive empirical data, many psychotherapists may reject Hogarty's embrace of biological psychiatry and his neglect of psychoanalytic conceptualizations.He has little patience with intriguing metaphors or sophisticated interpretations.Yet, among the impressive array of data, Hogarty writes with a passionate concern for the well-being of persons with schizophrenia that is so often overwhelmed by statistical analysis.Researchers of schizophrenia would do well to learn from his sophisticated, yet readable, analyses.At the same time, psychotherapists treating schizophrenic patients will emerge with a better appreciation of the interplay of the biological, psychological and environmental dimensions of this complex disorder. ... Read more

Book Description
Schizophrenia: A Scientific Delusion?, first published in 1990, made a very significant contribution to the debates on the concepts of schizophrenia and mental illness.These concepts remain both influential and controversial and this new updated second edition provides an incisive critical analysis of the debates over the last decade.As well as providing updated versions of the historical and scientific arguments against the concept of schizophrenia which formed the basis of the first edition, Boyle covers significant new material relevant to today's debates. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

uncovering the understanding
this is an excellent text on the lost glory of understanding the concepts in psychiatry.currently, the teachings in psychiatry have jumped so far and fast that the flavour of human understanding is missing. an essential text for every psychiatrist AFTER the training in the basic current conventional understanding of schizophrenia. ... Read more

Book Description
A User's Guide to Capitalism and Schizophrenia is a playful and emphatically practical elaboration of the major collaborative work of the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. When read along with its rigorous textual notes, the book also becomes the richest scholarly treatment of Deleuze's entire philosophical oeuvre available in any language. Finally, the dozens of explicit examples that Brian Massumi furnishes from contemporary artistic, scientific, and popular urban culture make the book an important, perhaps even central text within current debates on postmodern culture and politics.

Capitalism and Schizophrenia is the general title for two books published a decade apart. The first, Anti-Oedipus, was a reaction to the events of May/June 1968; it is a critique of "state-happy" Marxism and "school-building" strains of psychoanalysis. The second, A Thousand Plateaus, is an attempt at a positive statement of the sort of nomad philosophy Deleuze and Guattari propose as an alternative to state philosophy.

Brian Massumi is Professor of Comparative Literature at McGill University. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A Necessary Companion to Capitalism and Schizophrenia
Massumi saunters purposefully through the landscape created by Deleuze and Guattari while simultaneously staying true to the two authors' signature style.If you have read ANTI-OEDIPUS and/or A THOUSAND PLATEAUS, this book is an excellent supplement.Massumi seems to target young scholars or readers who are struggling with Deleuze and Guattari's vocabulary and concepts.Advanced scholars will probably not find anything new or extremely helpful in this book, but students will find it extremely helpful.

read this book
Still the best book on Deleuze and Guattari out there. Extremely creative on its own right, but also great for situating Deleuze and Guattari in relation to other currents in intellectual thought (like psychoanalysis, marxism). And it provides a helpful jumping-off point for thinking aspects of Deleuze's thought that often go unmentioned in introductory works on D+G. (I would say "other" introductory works, but calling this work introductory would be wrong.) Highly recommended.

The Sweetest Anomaly
This is my favourite book so far in my life! I'd read sections of A Thousand Plateaus and heard Massumi speak when I was at university when Deleuze & Guattari were quietly exploding into the collective awareness of the humanities; and neither experience was so enjoyable as reading A User's Guide. This reading provides a kind of ecstacy which I seemed to naturally, appreciate thoroughly but could not now nor ever readily bear for any length of focussed effort, not just of a reading session but, since, once you 'get it' it overtakes the world around you, for a period of my young adulthood. And yet A User's Guide - once you're in sync with it, thoroughly codified by Deleuze & Guattari and the palimpsest of philosophers and cultural figures filtered through their schizoanalytic thought, as it is - is an exquisite pleasure of discipline and flight. It is the sweetest anomaly in my vague and tenuous understanding of power.

Having said that, it's a difficult thrill.

Great book, but not about Deleuze and Guattari
Massumi's user's guide is a wonderful little book, but unfortunately is not a book about Deleuze and Guattari.At the outset, one initially thinks that Massumi will be giving a close reading of _A Thousand Plateaus_, but quickly finds that the text is a patchwork pieced together out of Deleuze'svarious writings. For instance, the first part of Massumi's book, entitled"Force" discusses D&G in the context of the Plateau in ATPentitled the "Geology of Morals", but greatly broadens thisdiscussion by interpreting D&G's appropriation of Hjelmslev's semioticsin the context of the reading of force Deleuze gives in _Nietzsche andPhilosophy_.Now, not only does Massumi severely simply D&G'sappropriation of Hjelmslev, but he does the same with Deleuze's account offorce in Nietzsche.Moreover, in Deleuze's own independent philosophicalworks and in the context of his work with Guattari, Deleuze never makes useof the concept of force.Now, in and of itself this is not a bad thing andMassumi ends up producing a very useful model of analysis, but it'squestionable as to whether such a reading really helps the reader penetratewhat D&G are up to in ATP.

It seems to me that this sort ofstrategy is symptomatic of a lot of works on both Deleuze and Deleuze'swork with Guattari.No one would deny that the works with Guattari andDeleuze's works "written in his own name" are exceedinglydifficult and require a lot of work to unlock, and that as a rule hiswritings in the history of philosophy are remarkably clear.As a result,there seems to be a refusal to read the independent works on their ownterms and a tendency to attempt to reduce them to the historical writings. While I would be the last to claim that the histories are to be ignored, itis nonetheless the case that the use of them ought to center arounddemonstrating how they converge with the independent works, how Deleuzerethinks their problematics, and where Deleuze diverges from them.

Itis also likely that much of this textual practice comes from the latentimperative in Deleuze's philosophy to create.This has to do withDeleuze's textual strategy of "getting behind the author and creatinga monsterous offspring."As a result, those that write on Deleuzesimultaneously experience the necessity of merely doing commentary on whathe said in order to show how it belongs to a philosophical tradition andproblematic, while nonetheless being forced to remain silent on what hesaid.What seems to be forgotten are Deleuze's words immediately followinghis pronouncement of getting behind the author, where he claims that theonly rule is that the author himself must be shown to have said it. Moreover, much of the "creating" that goes on in the name ofDeleuze and Guattari comes to look like an arbitrary activity based on thewill of the author, rather than an expression of the impersonal andnecessary that D&G were always quick to emphasize.In other words,sometimes the greatest usefulness in writing about a text consists ingetting clear on what that text actually says in its own terms.

Massumi'sbook can be highly illuminating and is a great and exciting read, but isnot necessarily the best source for coming to understand Deleuze andGuattari's difficult texts. One would do much better to first readsomething like Eugine Holland's book if their seeking to get an accuratepicture of what's going on in Deleuze and Guattari.

A postmodern self-help manual
Ten minutes out of the box and I had made my very own desiring machine ... Read more

Book Description

Contains guidelines and recommendations-in tabular form for quick reference-on patient evaluation and optimal treatment for long-term care!Based on evidence from recent systematic clinical research studies, this comprehensive reference provides the latest information on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of schizophrenia-highlighting modern diagnostic tools and current therapeutic advances for the prevention of hallucinations, thought disorganization, and negative symptoms.Emphasizes family education and psychoeducation, and community-centered treatments for patient rehabilitation and adherence to management programs!With consideration of the chronic nature of the disease, Schizophrenia details · the effect of substance abuse and drug dependence on rehabilitation and treatment · second-generation antipsychotic drugs, including olanzapine, quetiapine, risperiodone, and ziprasidone · contemporary strategies to prevent depression and suicide · patterns of patient compliance and noncompliance · violence and forensic hospitalization With over 600 useful references, Schizophrenia is an essential source for psychiatrists and psychopharmacologists, clinical neurologists and neuropsychopharmacologists, psychologists, primary care physicians, social workers, nurses, and graduate and medical school students in these disciplines.

Book Description

Schizophrenia, at one time considered by many clinicians to be a psychological response to an oppressive upbringing, is now generally accepted as a physical illness. While Keith Doubt does not quarrel with this current view, he does challenge the positivist assumptions that tend to accompany it. Throughout this fascinating survey of the literature on schizophrenia, Doubt presents a critique of society's neglect of the mentally ill and promotes a humanistic understanding of the affected person as a social being.

Doubt draws on several disciplines and uses the works of such diverse writers as Vygotsky, Piaget,Deleuze, Laing, and Torrey. While he rebukes medical practitioners for ignoring the social dimensions of schizophrenia, he is equally critical of post-modernism's tendency to valorize the mentally ill. Nor does he sympathize with particular sociological approaches which, he believes, emphasize society's reactions to the illness - often at the expense of the afflicted person. Thus, a major part of Doubt's project is to place the individual at the centre of sociological theorizing about schizophrenia.

This thought-provoking study offers an alternative perspective on schizophrenia to scholars and professionals, as well as to those who live with the disease. Doubt offers practical recommendations, which he hopes will bring some relief to sufferers, and helpful insights to those engaged in treating or assisting people with schizophrenia. ... Read more

Book Description
Recovery from Schizophrenia, from its first publication, was acclaimed as a work of major importance.It demonstrated convincingly, but controversially, how political, economic and labor market forces shape social responses to the mentally ill, mould psychiatric treatment philosophy, and influence the onset and course of one of the most common forms of mental illness.

In this revised and updated third edition, Dr. Warner analyzes the latest research to extend the conclusions of his original work and tells us whether conditions and outcome for people with schizophrenia are getting better or worse in Britain and America in recent years.In addition, he critiques recent approaches to preventing the occurrence of schizophrenia, describes the latest advances in the rehabilitation of people with schizophrenia, suggests innovative strategies for advancing the economic situation of people with mental illness, and provides a guide on how to combat the stigma of mental illness at the local and national level. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A neglected contribution
(I have not yet read the second edition of this book but it is reasonable to assume that it is an updated version of the first edition, which is the book I am referring to.) This is an extraordinary book which reviewsthe entired field of social structure and mental illness. (In fact my onlyobjection to the book is the title, which suggests a far narrower fieldthan is actually covered in the work.)Warner seems to have read all therelevant literature and has the distinct advantage of being able to placestudies of mental health in a social, historical and cross-culturalcontext.His analysis is thorough and creative and he makes a verypersuasive case that the predominant causes of mental illness, includingschizophrenia, are more deeply rooted in the social system than the myopic,insulated views of most psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists canenvision. His arguments against the "social drift" hypothesis andother self serving illusions of contemporary psychotherapeutica reaserchare extremely important.His willingness to incorporate insights from avariety of social thinker, including Marx (yet, that Marx) give the book adeep analyitic resonance. It is not accidental that this book is notwidely known for it does not fit easily into the reified bioligicalaccounts of mental illness that have been playing havoc with the field forthe last 25 years or so. ... Read more

Product Description
Room for J will touch your heartstrings. It is about a family struggling to come to grips with the unpredictability and unfairness of a severe mental illness. In this book, the father shares his struggle to understand his son J's schizophrenia. J's mother, brother, and sister also reveal what is feels like to lose a son and a brother by sharing pieces from their personal journal entries.
Excerpts from J's own book reveal what it is like to live with someone who believes that he is God on a mission to change the world. The author and family hope these reflections are helpful for other families that struggle with mental illness. They want you to know that you are not alone. They also hope that their voices, along with the voices of others that deal with mental illness, will be heard, so that our world might finally make room for all our J's. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Insightful
I read this slim volume in a day.It is nice to be able to read this personal story about life with a child who has schizophrenia; it provides a little comfort in knowing one is not alone.My heart goes out to the Hansons, whose son J does not believe he is ill and has struggled for a decade with his medications.Mr. Hanson encourages receiving/accepting support from organizations like NAMI and family and friends, which is good advice.

Mr. Hanson does not go into detail about J's medications, but I know that most anti-psychotic drugs do come with a hideous side effect profile, which we experienced in our family, specifically with Risperdal.Recently, we have reason to hope that Abilify, which is fairly new on the market, will address symptoms with, so far, almost no side effects at all.

Best wishes to the Hanson family - I appreciate you sharing your struggle.

A Family's Poignant Sketch of Life with Schizophrenia
Having had a family member with schizophrenia, I have long searched for a book that goes beyond a clinical, sterile description of the illness."A Room with J" is the rare and validating book that I've been looking for, written by a father who has the courage to honor and share the humility of living with his son Joel's mental illness.Using journals and photographs, the book offers an invaluable glimpse into Joel's experience, and that of his family members, as they strive each day to bring dignity to his life.What makes the book astounding is that it is written by a distinguished leader in Communications and Business Relationships who could have easily focused his efforts outside his poignant struggle at home. Instead, he took his extraordinary communication skills to create an unforgettable account of his family's resolve to triumph over the humbling chaos of Joel's journey.I came away from the book deeply grateful to the author for showing me how the power of love and honesty can ultimately shine right through an illness as agonizing as schizophrenia.

Room For J:A Family Stuggles With Schizophrenia
An amazing and emotional look inside one incredible families' journey to help their son deal with a disease that is still so hard to define.A reminder to all of us that you never know what tomarrow will bring and that "family" is so much more than a word.

An amazing story of hope and of the power of parental love.
Mom, Dad and three healthy kids - the Hanson family seemed about as well-adjusted and All-American as it gets -- until that day the dreaded phone call came, inferring that their youngest son Joel, away at college, was having some sort of mental breakdown. During the ten years since then, the Hansons' lives have been turned upside-down and thrown into a battle with both Joel's schizophrenia and the flawed and frustrating American mental health system.

Author Dan Hanson says writing the book was a form of self-therapy, but it's also a generous gift to readers, especially those with family or friends dealing with mental illness. Sharing such a personal and trying situation is an act of courage, especially his indictment of our mental health system and society's need to subjugate and medicate every person that doesn't fit into its recognized definition of "sanity." Hanson pleads for better treatment of the mentally ill, many of whom have fallen through the cracks of a transition from huge state-run institutions to community-based care.

"Implying that we rely too heavily on medication-based treatment programs, Hanson suggests teams made up of a social worker, psychiatrist, therapist, and trained support person, all the while recognizing the funding and staffing difficulties involved. He also explains convincingly how we need to expand our definition of "normal" and give the mentally ill the respect they deserve. Even though the Hansons live in constant fear of an eruption of Joel's psychosis - he believes he is the Messiah and ruler of the Universe - they learn to accept Joel as he is, and also how to cope with their own guilt and feelings of helplessness.

Hanson has written a heart-wrenching but lucid plea for better treatment of our mentally ill. It is also a love story between a father and son, by a man who cares so much and loves so deeply that he is willing to overcome fear, doubts and societal pressures to learn, grow, and evolve spiritually from the experience. It's an amazing story of hope and of the power of parental love.

insight and understanding can be gained from this book
Room for J is a great book for anyone who might want to gain some sensitivity and insight into what it is like to live with someone who suffers from mental illness.You'll also get a glimpse into the life of J through some personal journal entries.The book is not written for a light easy read, and it will most likely leave you asking more questions versus finding answers.In fact, it's somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster as you try to place yourself in the position of each of the people in the book while reading excerpts from their personal journals.However, it will challenge some of your perceptions surrounding mental illness and will hopefully make you a little more sensitive and compassionate to what family members and those who have been given the clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia may be trying to cope with on a day by day basis. ... Read more

Book Description
Dr Hoffer presents his highly successful nutritional treatment of schizophrenia involving an allergy-free diet enhanced with vitamin supplements (vitamin B-3, primarily), assisted temporarily by drugs when symptoms are severe. This book not only answers the questions healthcare professionals may have about the symptoms and causes of this disease, but also gives patients and their families new hope for recovery from schizophrenia. Features case studies of many patients who have been healed by Dr Hoffer's treatment and includes the HOD test for diagnosing schizophrenia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Advisedly optimistic
When I stumbled across this book I was looking for some help for a sibling.My family and I had seen the detrimental tranquilizing affects of anti-psychotic meds first hand.Moreover, their side effects (even with the new generation of meds) can include tardive dyskinesia. This book provided some much needed hope that there might be something proposing an alternate.This is a well written book intended for comprehension by the general public. And while I am aware of the APA's 1973 criticisms of niacin therapy, I was disposed to try it anyway.Dr. Hoffer provided convincing anecdotal evidence that there was at least some efficacy in the use of his regimen.He does not claim that all schizophrenics will be entirely off anti-psyche meds with the use of his regimen.A nice side effect of niacin therapy (we use inositol hexanicotinate) at high dosages is a reduction of LDL cholesterol.At any rate, Hoffer's book ultimately convinced us to try the treatment.My sibling has now been off anti-depressants and anti-psyche meds for some time now. The tardive dyskinesia sx that had emerged are also gone.It is too early to state that my sibling is entirely free of previous sx and to be convinced that they may not return.However, even in the event they do return, my sibling will have had a reasonably lengthy "drug holiday".It has meant much to my sibling and to us to have allowed the personality, love of life, awareness, to have returned for a time.I highly recommend Abram Hoffer's book for those interested in learning about schizophrenia, its symptoms, causes, and potential alternative treatments.I might add that prayer and requests for divine intervention have been a big part of our treatment plan as well.

Response to criticism of niacin therapy
I feel I should offer a rebuttal to B. Chiko. The report referenced by Chiko is the 1973 APA psychological report, a report full of errors, misleading statements and poor arguments. Hoffer has claimed that Niacin & vitamin C works best on acute schizophrenics, the 1973 report used niacin alone on chronic schizophrenics. Hoffer wrote a well thought out retort to the 1973 report entitled `Megavitamin Therapy in reply to The American Psychiatric Association Task Force Report on Megavitamin and Orthomolecular Therapy in Psychiatry.' In it he details all of the misleading statements of the APA report, and I urge everyone here to actually read the 1973 report and its rebuttal. In fact, after reading this retort JR Wittenborn, one of the six authors of the APA report conducted a test of niacin using Hoffer's parameters (acute schizophrenics) and found positive results (A Search for Responders to Niacin Supplementation). Naturally none of the skepticsreference that study. Hoffer claims his theories have helped over 100,000 patients with niacin. Should we encourage all of them to throw their niacin in the trash? I urge everyone here swayed by either my or Chikos arguments to actually read the 1973 report, then read the rebuttal.

There was a drug for schizophrenia first discovered over 50 years ago, but because it was a medication unrelated to mental illness nobody wanted to use it. Doctors laughed at other doctors who prescribed it and many in the medical community wrote off how effective it was. However for the doctors willing to shrug off the criticism of the skeptics and who tried it noticed massive improvements. This drug was just an antihistamine, how could it treat schizophrenia? That drug was called thorazine (thorazine was originally an antihistamine), and it started the revolution that led to antipsychotic medications which has helped millions of people. Where would we be if we had just written off thorazine because it was `just an antihistamine'? Why is this better than writing off niacin for being `just a vitamin'?Would we be better off today as a community of medical patients if we had let the skeptics win on that battle? Would we have geodon, abilify or risperdal today if we hadn't fought back against the medical dogmatists fifty years ago?

All I know is my feelings of unreality, my magical thinking and my paranoia are not present now that I am on niacin therapy. No error laden, misleading study written 33 years ago is going to make me feel like I'm not better or take away the fact that I can function better.

comphrensive and to the point
Thanks God, for doctors like Abram Hoffer.His book(s) have given me great insight into the true nature of schizophrenia.My son may one day soon have a life because of Dr. Abram Hoffer and his students.

Seller Trustworthy!
Excellent Seller -- prompt sending of product; book as stated, fine condition! Thanks!

just plain works
Dr. Hoffer is right on with his research. This is a book gives much needed guidance into treating schizophrenia from a holistic/naturopathic approach. ... Read more

Product Description
In his autobiography of deliverance and healing from the hell of 26 years of schizophrenia, James Stacey seeks to honour the unbounded possibilities of prayer, and glorifies the ability of God to answer every need. ... Read more

Book Description

This handbook describes the most up-to-date knowledge on cognition in schizophrenia. Cognition is perhaps the most critical aspect of the disorder, and, for the first time, the authors assess all its features as well as the clinical implications of these deficits in the patient's everyday life. New medications enhance cognition without influencing the psychotic symptoms of the illness, and the most recent data on those effects are included, as is a unique review of cognition and aging. The book gives a concise but sophisticated analysis of cognitive deficits, their implications and developing treatment strategies. Any clinician working with schizophrenic patients will find this text essential.

Book Description
The recent development of new classes of psychoactive drugs has led to advances in the treatment of schizophrenia. This handy reference is a valuable prescribing guide as well as a primer on the complexities of diagnosis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

comprehensive and easy to read
It's a beutiful book about schizophrenia. It covers everything including history of this disease, epidemiology, risk factors, neurobiology, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, older and newer treatments. All you want to know about this disease is in this small yet comprehensive pocket size book. ... Read more

Book Description
Family Work with Psychosis provides a practical step-by-step guide for professionals treating psychosis using family work.
The authors draw on over 10 years of experience working with families to provide helpful guidance on vital issues, including setting up initial group meetings, crisis intervention plans, group structure, problem solving and communication in the group.Subjects covered include:
The Stress -Vulnerability Model
The group structure and framework
Family-work in early psychosis
Working with families of people suffering from psychosis and substance misuse
What can the family do to be of help and support?
This accessible, jargon-free guide will be of great interest to anyone involved in using family work to treat those with psychosis.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Best I've Found
For information on treating schizophrenia with alternative medicine, this book is most helpful. Written in very clear terms, understandable by persons with little, or no, medical training. Explains the main "bio-types" of those who suffer from schizophrenia, and what can be done to correct the imbalance/s.
Few practitioners are willing and able to treat schizophenia by means of balancing the chemistry of the brain with natural supplements. This book can guide both the practioner and patient in the quest for a successful alternative treatment of mental illness. It explains various deficiencies that may cause particular symptoms, which sources of supplements help most, which blood tests are useful, etc. This book has helped my son, who was psychotic -- in and out of hospitals -- to successfully wean off almost all prescription medication.
He continues to improve, and hopes to be drug free soon.

The Best I've Found
For information on treating schizophrenia with alternative medicine, this book has been most helpful. Written in very clear terms, understandable by persons with little, or no, medical training. Explains the main "bio-types" of those who suffer from schizophrenia, and what can be done to correct the imbalance/s.
Few practitioners are willing and able to treat schizophenia by means of balancing the chemistry of the brain with natural supplements. This book can guide both the practioner and patient in the quest for a successful alternative treatment of mental illness. It explainsvarious deficiencies that may cause particular symptoms, which sources of supplements help most, which blood tests are useful, etc. This book has helped my son, who was psychotic -- in and out of hospitals -- to successfully wean off almost all medication.
He continues to improve, and hopes to be drug free soon.

LIFE ALTERING INFORMATION
Concise to the point. Simple to understand and to apply. Infomation that can change your life! This book has been long over due.It is written by the best in thier field. Dont miss the chance to read this book.If not foryourself than do it for someone else and pass it on, its to valuable to beignored. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

One of the Best
I'm a social worker in the mental health field. I found this book 18 years ago and I still recommend it to family members to help them understand schizophrenia. It's easy to read and has good sound advice on how to help your loved one.

A Must-Read For Those Interested In Schizophrenia
Whether you're an individual who has been diagnosed with this disease, you know someone who has this condition or you work with those in the mental health field, this book is a wonderful asset to have in your library!

Of all the books I've read on this subject (and there are many), this is by far the most descriptive and in-depth informative book in this genre. Covering everything from stigma, to the effects of schizophrenia on a home/family, to causes, myths, and misconceptions and much more, this book will help you understand how to deal with the situation and move on to a more fulfilling life. Housing, work, social life, money, medication, heredity, and state involuntary committment laws, all paint a thorough picture on this sad and difficult state.

Easy to read, thorough, honest, and well worth the small price, this book comes highly recommended. :v)

one of the best on the subject.
Having worked with patients that have schizophrenia and their families for the past 11 years, I have found Ms. Walsh's book to be one of the most understandable, direct and helpful books available. I have been recommending it for years and will continue to do so. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is a synthesis of the mental sickness, known medically as schizophrenia or dementia praecox, but the lay populace knows it as oppression, overshadowing and possession. It traces back to the time when the author got involved with spiritualism, suffered his first mental breakdown, and to his second involvement with the spirits to suffer another mental breakdown. It explains the mental metamorphosis that had taken place in his mind, the emotional upheaval experienced, the fears, hallucinations, and the physical sicknesses suffered, especially those of hysteric origin. It also explains how he battled with such forces to retain his sanity. In the second part of the book the author explains the stages of development of schizophrenia, the types of dreams he had during that period of three over years when he suffered the psychotic episodes, the significances and interpretation of dreams, the origin of fear and how to overcome it, and also how to avoid getting involved with the spirits, the root cause of schizophrenic psychosis. The last part of the book explains what are altered consciousness, autosuggestion, and manual suggestion, with explanations and descriptions on how the various religious establishments make use of such methods to invoke the spirits from the world beyond, the validity of such methods, and the extent religions play in causing mental disorders. It also describes the various methods used by religious organizations to cause that state of altered consciousness, producing phenomena like state of trance, automatic writing, speaking in tongues and other such phenomena like possession, hysteria, and entrancement. ... Read more