This book is a study of schizophrenia in a modern psychiatric hospital. Its purpose is to develop a contextual understanding of schizophrenia by studying the clinical setting in which this disorder is experienced, diagnosed and treated, and it arises from an anthropological investigation of the day-to-day work of clinical staff. The author offers a penetrating analysis of the language used by hospital staff as they write and talk about their patients, and traces the evolution of the concept of schizophrenia, showing how contemporary theoretical constructs are applied by clinical staff. In its...

With the emerging international consensus toward community care of the mentally ill, there comes a growing need for meaningful evaluation of services. Redressing the current lack of guidance this book describes how to do mental health service research. Contributors comprehensively review the most recent developments in research design, method and measurement at the level of both whole service systems and individual programs within mental health services. Practical descriptions of comprehensive evaluation projects illustrate each issue and many chapters examine important earlier advances in...

Personality disorders have only recently been recognized as categories of psychiatric illness, and still need a sharper definition. This book interprets the personality disorders as products of the interaction between social influences and other etiological factors as part of a broad biopsychosocial model, and explains how personality traits develop into personality disorders. Strongly oriented toward recent empirical findings, the author argues that although biological, psychological and social factors are all necessary, none of them is by itself sufficient to produce a personality disorder....

This challenging book describes a new approach to the provision of mental health service to a community. Taking as their theoretical basis the vulnerability-stress model of mental illness, the authors place their findings and recommendations in the wider context of mental health care provision, and draw widely on international research in this field. They insist on a rigorous approach to the provision and evaluation of care, and use telling case studies to reveal the benefits as well as some of the difficulties that may be experienced. The practical, problem-solving and cost effective...

This is a book of psychiatry at its most practical level. It aims to answer the sorts of questions psychiatrists ask on a daily basis. What treatments are available for the condition that I think this patient has? What is the relative value of each of these treatments? Are there any other treatments that I should be considering if a first approach has failed? Is there any value in combinations of treatment? And, can I be sure that the evidence and recommendations I read are free from bias? The content is organised into three sections covering disease classification, the major treatment...