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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Schizotypy is a psychological concept which describes a continuum of personality characteristics and experiences related to psychosis and in particular, schizophrenia. This is in contrast to a categorical view of psychosis, where psychosis is considered to be a particular (usually pathological) state, that someone either has, or has not. The categorical view of psychosis is most associated with Emil Kraepelin, who created criteria for the medical diagnosis and classification of different forms of psychotic illness. Particularly, he made the distinction between dementia praecox (now called schizophrenia), manic depressive insanity and non-psychotic states. Modern diagnostic systems used in psychiatry (such as the DSM) maintain this categorical view. ... Read more

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The boundaries among various psychotic disorders are still not always clearly defined. The question that this book addresses is whether a contiunuum exists in psychotic disorders or whether there are distinct entities, despite unclear boundaries. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the topic, and its aim is to present up-to-date research and to discuss arguments for and against the existence of a psychotic continuum. The subject is approached from many different perspectives such as psychopathology, longitudinal course, genetics, neurobiochemistry, morphology, neuroimaging, and psychopharmacology. With contributions by international experts, this is one of the most thorough and up-to-date overviews currently available. ... Read more

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This book was written by a man who at the time was experiencing the most severe symptoms of his Schizoaffective Disorder. He had found that through his poetry he was able to overcome the most debilitating aspects of his disease. Though suffering, he managed to complete the work by the grace of God and help from friends, completing the book in 2003. In the first section of the book are poems about his symptoms at the time. While he was writing, he disovered the calming effect of the poems on his symptoms. In the second section of his book he was rediscovering his connection with Christ and how the writing of his book came to give him the courage to eventually leave the self-imposed prison of his home. The book also contains descriptions of the 63 poems in their original form that helped to set him free from the bondage of his disease. ... Read more

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This book is about how to help yourself be happier and healthier after a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. Mary Dodds has been through many hospitalizations, ECTs, and been prescribed various anti-psychotic, antidepressant, and mood-stabilizing drugs over a fourteen-year period. This book contains what she wishes someone had told her at the beginning of her battle with schizoaffective disorder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Not really a book
This says very little in its entirety. i read it in 15 minutes. it's short and boring.

this is not a book, but a booklet
This booklet is a pamphlet written by someone who is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorderand doesn't even write about her take on what it means but instead answers very broad questions about mental health issues such as medication management and doctors. I don't know why she thinks she answers these questions well because she really does not. She never even mentions symtoms and refers to the website for schioaffective.There are many better sources on line for this disorder and this book serves no real purpose. Such question include, "why me?", "should i go to church?", "what kind of clothes can i wear in the hospital." Don't waste your money on this.

Schizoaffective: A Happier and Healthier Life
I didn't find this book helpful.It lacked the information that I was looking for.

schizoaffective:a happier and healthier life
I was disappointed from the shcizoaffective side of things. This book could have been written for any mental illness and in this view it is an excellent portrayal, honest and encouraging hope that it can be done. A happier life is possible. However, I was looking for more specific relationship between schizoaffective disorder, its symptoms and recovery .
The title is misleading. If schizoaffective was omitted from the title then I wouldnt have been disappointed.

Good, Basic Book About Schizoaffective Disorder
This book is not only good for those who have Schizoaffective Disorder, but also their families. When I was first diagnosed I asked if there were any good books out there about this disorder, (this was several years ago) they said something like just read the books for Bipolar Disorder AND Schizophrenia. I really wish this little book was out there when I was first diagnosed because it answers many of the questions you're likely to have when first diagnosed. It isn't heavily scientific or a memoir. It's almost like an interview with a person who has this illness. It's very short, but that's not a bad thing. There were times when they had me medicated to the point that my attention span couldn't last through something the length of a comic book. This little book is a perfect introduction. It's worth every penny. ... Read more

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A heartbreaking yet deeply hopeful memoir about life as a twin in the face of autism.

When Allen Shawn and his twin sister, Mary, were two, Mary began exhibiting signs of what would be diagnosed many years later as autism. Understanding Mary and making her life a happy one appeared to be impossible for the Shawns. At the age of eight, with almost no warning, her parents sent Mary to a residential treatment center. She never lived at home again.

Fifty years later, as he probed the sources of his anxieties in Wish I Could Be There, Shawn realized that his fate was inextricably linked to his sister's, and that their natures were far from being different.

Twin highlights the difficulties American families coping with autism faced in the 1950s. Shawn also examines the secrets and family dramas as his father, William, became editor of The New Yorker. Twin reconstructs a parallel narrative for the two siblings, who experienced such divergent fates yet shared talents and proclivities. Wrenching, honest, understated, and poetic, Twin is at heart about the mystery of being inextricably bonded to someone who can never be truly understood.

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Description

Lacking any ambition other than to keep his glass full, Jerry Fiddler is a man struggling – and failing – to walk the fine line between serious work and alcoholic play. One day, at one of life’s crossroads, he makes the most obvious of wrong turns and decides to empty what savings he has into financing a drink-fuelled adventure that can take him where it will.

But although there are moments of limited glory for Fiddler, situations arise that will require all of his limited resources and strength if he is to overcome them.

AN ITCHY LIVER is filled to the brim with adventure, pathos, humour and philosophy. It will appeal to anyone who has ever woken up with a hangover in an unexpected place.

About the Author

Adam Shargool was born in 1980 and grew up in a small village on the outskirts of Stafford. Since his mid-twenties he has been in and out of psychiatric hospital and various jobs. 2007 was a busy year for him: He got married, become a father, and was diagnosed with Schizo-Affective Disorder. Now with the help of his family, medication and therapy, he looks forward to writing more books.

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Susan Inman's memoir describes her family's nine year journey to help her younger daughter recover from a catastrophic schizoaffective disorder. "Highly recommended" by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey author of Surviving Schizophrenia and described by him as "...one of the best accounts I have read of serious mental illness as told by a mother." From the introduction, Michael Kirby, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada and Ella Amir, the chair of the Caregiver's Advisory Committee state "Susan's heart wrenching account is an important reminder of the work we still have to do to ensure that people with mental illness and their families get the same treatment and respect that individuals with physical illnesses receive. It is also testimony to the devotion and dedication of families, which sadly often comes at the expense of their own well-being" Harvard psychiatrist, Dr. Stephanie Engel said "Susan Inman has written a much needed book about her experience as a mother coming to grips with her daughter's devastating mental illness. Other parents will recognize and take comfort from her courageous and persistent efforts to learn what is known about psychotic illnesses and their treatment, while holding tenaciously to her own personal knowledge of what it means to be a loving, humane and thoughtful parent. Believing in one's own instincts as a parent in the face of expertise, myths and prejudices is a monumental task, and Ms Inman does it with grace and conviction." Emergency room physician and international best selling author, Dr. Daniel Kalla said "After Her Brain Broke is a harrowing, heart wrenching, and ultimately triumphant story of one family's struggle with a child's mental illness. It's impossible not to be moved by Susan Inman's honest and touching account of her daughter's sudden descent into mental health turmoil and the family's long hard battle to overcome it. A must read for families coping with a mental illness, and a wonderful eye-opener for those of us lucky enough not to have been affected." ... Read more

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Pieces from a Shattered Mind are collected stories, poems, and thoughts of my late sister as she struggled with schizoaffective disorder and bulimia nervosa.Each of us struggles with our own demons, this is a snapshot of my sister’s battle. ... Read more

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Description

This book aims to take the reader through what my experience of Schizo-Affective Disorder has been like. Therefore, the poems relating to the main issues that have affected me are not in set sections but rather they are scattered randomly. This represents how my life has been a bit like a roller coaster ride. The poems are in the order in which I wrote them-again to allow the reader to gain an insight into my own personal experience of mental health problems. Writing this book has been an incredibly empowering journey for me and I hope that this is evident to the reader.

About the Author

Claire Attwood is 30 years old and lives on the Isle of Wight with her fiance Neil and their pets. Claire has battled Schizo-Affective Disorder for the last 7 years and-for the most part, thinks she is winning the fight! Claire works for the NHS as a Support Time and Recovery Worker in an Early Intervention in Psychosis Team and is also studying for a degree in Psychology with the Open University. In her spare time, Claire enjoys writing poetry and self-help literature, and also looking after her pet snake- Barney. Claire hopes to continue writing to empower those affected by mental health problems.
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Description

This book tells the story of my battles within the mental health system over the last fourteen years. I have, from a psychiatrist’s perspective, variously been diagnosed as hypomanic, schizophrenic, manic depressive and as having schizoaffective disorder – and in that order!

But from my point of view (and as an ex-journalist I decided to investigate the mental health system from the inside out!), I have simply been on an extraordinary spiritual journey, meeting the spirits of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, meeting a spiritually persecuting Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, meeting the ancient queen Cleopatra herself, meeting the devilish spirit of Dr. Josef Goebbels, before penultimately having sex with the female angel Jana and finally meeting the fallen angel Lucifer himself!

The book recounts the story of all the above, whilst also ending with a discussion and critique of contemporary psychiatry.

I do not believe myself to have been mentally ill. I believe myself to be a visionary.

About the Author

Michael Black was born in 1962, and Angels, Cleopatra And Psychosis describes his life and spiritual experiences within the British mental health system over the past fifteen years. The book stands up for the legitimacy of so-called psychotic experience, and questions the validity of the received medical model.

Michael grew up in Cheshire, where he attended Wilmslow Grammar School before doing an English and History degree at York University. He then completed a doctorate in anti-apartheid literature at Cambridge University, whilst variously working as a journalist and theatre producer.

Michael is the author of one novel, Crossing Out The Emperor, and six stage plays. He has received three Arts Council Playwrights Bursaries, and is currently working on a new novel and two film scripts.

The publication of Angels, Cleopatra And Psychosis is supported by Macclesfield Mind.

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Description

This inspiring collection of poems was written over a twenty-five year period and documents the experiences and thoughts of Maureen during this most tumultuous period of her life. Her poems are warm and her language elegant. In the new genre of 'mad poetry' this is a key collection, written by one of its main exponents.

About the Author

Maureen Oliver is a lesbian artist and poet, a mother and grandmother, and a psychiatric survivor with a current diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder. This is her second book published through Chipmunka, her first 'Breaking Down' was published in early 2006.
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Description

Prolific artist and author Maureen Oliver brings us this wonderfully eclectic and inspirational book of short stories and poetry drawing from her experiences of love, life and madness. Maureen is an accomplished story teller and here she recounts some of her fascinating personal story and the emotional rollercoaster she has experienced as a sufferer of schizo-affective disorder. This is a heart-warming, up-lifting and witty collection of works.

About the Author

Maureen Oliver is a lesbian artist and poet, a mother and grandmother, and a psychiatric survivor with a current diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder.
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Description

Jonathan's imaginatively written and beautifully worded autobiography about schizophrenia and psychosis is a worthy addition to the 'mad memoirs' genre. Jonathan has suffered a lot - during his 'internment' in a mental hospital and his efforts to reintegrate into society on his release - Jonathan writes about it all with panache and confidence.

About the Author

I was born in Zambia as the youngest of a trio of siblings in the year 1975. Subsequently I came to live in Zimbabwe and lived there until my mother died in 1984, thereafter I came to live in South Africa where my schooling was carried out. I married in 1993 and soon after in 1996 I returned to the United Kingdom. I found employment variously as a factory worker a toy salesman and also a chef, bartender and contract labourer.

I experienced a psychotic incident in the year 2000. I was interred at St. Annes hospital and ended up staying for seven months. After much discussion it was decided that I was suffering from schizophrenia. I was much put out by the idea and spoke my mind in this regard and it was finally decided that what I was suffering from was a schizo-affective disorder. I was much happier with this and was subsequently discharged. My internment was a revelation to my somewhat lacklustre wellbeing. I had not considered myself unwell and when I was told that my mind was unwell it was a real eye-opener. After having been diagnosed, I have found employment to be the hardest nut to crack, remaining to this day rather more self-employed than anything else.
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Description

This book is one young man's look the world, or worlds which he experiences, internal and external, heavenly and earthly and everything imbetween. Shaffer's lens allows the reader different angles from the norm, different interpretations of our everyday 21st century society.

He hopes to leave us all "touched by madness", if not fully fledged, card carrying mad men.

About the Author

Evan Shaffer has suffered from schizoaffective disorder since high school. Following several years of alternating suicidal depressions, paranoid delusions, and manic psychosis, he found his voice as a writer and wrote "For Madmen Only: Adventures of a Writer" - the picturesque story of his experiences with mental illness and development as a writer.

He recently received a Masters degree in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University. However, he is struggling to establish a career as a full-time writer.

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Description & About the Author

After a year travelling around the World Suzannah comes back to England to start university. Things start to go wrong as she is tempted into experimenting with drugs. She drops out of university and during her first spell of mania and depression starts to believe in black magic. This is the start of a long and winding journey for Suzannah as she loses all her friends and former lifestyle and leads a dubious existence - self harming and trichotillomania plague and her psyche as she battles with an eating disorder.

Suzannah is eventually sectioned and finds herself in a secure unit battling psychosis. She will not admit to herself she has a problem and refuses to take medication. Lonely and cast adrift she tries to forge a career for herself, but she can’t escape the taboo of being labelled 'mental'. Some time later she finds herself in the slums of Darlington, in poverty, and a chronic alcoholic. Overcoming her demons and fighting her schizo-affective disorder Suzannah takes life by the balls and gets herself back to university to finally finish her degree only to once again fall into mental illness, bad relationships and brushes with the law.

With four different diagnoses along the journey and various different forms of medication Suzannah denies her mental illness for a long time and therefore the psychiatrists were unable to help. She loses all her friends through mental illness and any form of normal life until she confronts the problem.

Remarkably and with great character Suzannah's book ends on a high note as she falls in love and marries the man of her dreams to live happily ever after with her son Domini. It is through her own determination and the support of loved ones that Suzannah has changed her life. She will never be totally rid of her illness but with sensible management she has succeeded in finding equilibrium. This is a fascinating and empowering story which should be a great positive influence to those who find themselves in a similar situation to Suzannah.

Book Extract

When we returned home the drinks cabinet was locked and I was locked in the house, but I was so high I didn’t need anything to aid it .My parents were worried and were watching me carefully. It’s never been discussed whether or not there is mental illness in my family tree but I know a great aunt committed suicide years before using paracetamol. My mania continued, my parents tried to talk to me about my future, I didn’t want to know I thought great thing wee going to happen to me without me doing anything to help it. My mother dragged me down to the University of Leeds, to continue my studies there. I said no, I didn’t want to go. I couldn’t stand the stress of going back to university, it didn’t interest me. She then dragged me to the chamber of commerce where I had an awful meeting with an old man. He knew I wasn’t interested in the course on offer and he told me so. It was an awkward and embarrassing moment. So I signed on the dole, and when I had to go for job interviews I messed them up.

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Description

The Seen But Forgotten has been written based on nearly twenty years of personal experience of mental illness, ‘schizoaffective disorder’, as well as on many of my observations and other ideas, and related research on mental illness. It is based also on my observations of many of my friends and associates with mental illness, over the years, and their stories and experiences relayed to me. It describes some insights into some of the thoughts and feelings one can experience in certain states of mental illness. It also offers an overview of both known and other hypothetical considerations of some of the possible causes of mental illness; and includes some consideration of the medical model of the more current psychiatric practice of ‘chemical drug therapy’. The dangers and error of this practice is emphasized, and exposed are some of the serious and early death-inducing side-effects of most anti-psychotic medications, the dangers associated with the misuse of benzodiazepines, and why there is a need for more research in new directions in order for psychiatrists, researchers and drug companies to come up with safer treatments.

Also discussed within my book are some suggestions for mental health consumers, carers and mental health workers about ways for one who is suffering from mental distress or illness to try to help oneself and relieve some of their suffering, apart from relying solely on medication. It also includes a section about recovery, entitled: ‘The Hope for Recovery’; as well as the topic of recovery being discussed throughout other sections of the book; including suggestions made in the section entitled: ‘Conclusion’. Particular references are made here to some ideas related to recovery and schizophrenia, and which have helped me tremendously in my journey of getting well and more highly functioning again, as I was prior to the onset of my condition.

The topic of ‘Spirituality’ as the missing link in psychiatry is introduced briefly in a summary way in an Appendix; and makes reference to some of the work of other people, including Jeremy Griffith and the Dalai Lama. The topic introduced in this section is considered as a whole part in itself of too broad a scope to be discussed in too much detail, given our differing ideas and spiritual beliefs or leanings; and is not the main argument or purpose of my book. Thus, it has been introduced in this way, as well as by suggestions in the sections: ‘The Hope for Recovery’ and ‘Conclusion’; in the hope of encouraging further thought and consideration by the reader.

There is also at the end of my book a list of references from where the technical, scientific, medical, and psychoanalytic theories, information and terminology; has been derived to support the arguments and messages contained in my book.

About the Author

Victoria Musgrave is a Graduate Architect in Australia, and was born in 1966. She has suffered from mental illness now for nearly twenty years and wants to contribute to others, and try to help others, by sharing what she has learned as she continues to recover. As Victoria continually grows as a person, she would like to show others who may be struggling with a mental health condition, how she managed to get much better, in the hope of maybe reducing the suffering of another. Victoria graduated from the Queensland University of Technology in 1993, after seven years of study, with two Bachelor degrees in Architecture. This was despite being diagnosed with a serious mental illness in 1992.

Victoria was first diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1992, at twenty-five years of age, after suffering a nervous breakdown from having been through some life stressors, and then a broken engagement to her then fiancé. And, she admits: she was off her head. Victoria told her psychiatrist that she was chosen to save the world. ... Read more

Product Description
The functional psychoses, medical diseases with no known biological causes (for example, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders), continue to be classed as illnesses of unknown origin, and the validity of diagnostic concepts therefore also depends on extrinsic criteria such as course and outcome, results of biological and genetic investigation, and response to treatment. Operational diagnostic criteria, or the process of defining a psychosis by studying its manifestations, are the main subject of this book, which presents a comprehensive review of the present state of diagnostic formulations for functional psychoses.From the early nosological and pathogenetic concepts of Kraepelin, Bleuler. Schneider, and Kasanin, the authors trace the development, internationally, of the various classifications of the functional psychoses, culminating among others in those embodied in the latest International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) formulations. This is a revised and expanded edition of Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenic and Affective Psychoses and is also published under the auspices of the World Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic criteria have been selected for inclusion on the basis of their historic importance, their influence on current diagnostic systems, their international scope, and their scientific importance. ... Read more

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Description

The book is about time travel in the transference of a relationship in order to realise important pearls of wisdom and intent that we call love. It has become a convention but do not let is be so. You see formative experiences are precious pearls too to illuminate that part of you which is not still as a photograph, still as the vixen in whose screams I try to see some love, something more than lustily impregnated desire. Her wildness chills me to the bone. Yet we have always absorbed like a mirror, full of flashes of light and statement, substance and creativity. The trouble with the outside world is that it cannot be kept at bay appreciating again that people are wonderful creatures, full of character and breeding, issues and imagination- so we become obsessed to resolve our doubts in such a way as to allay our fears. No rawness faded in the rapture of her look. I slink off into the forest mildly curious for I do not lay this candle to rest like her ghost, which moved through me some nights. The green shroud it wore will never let fade. It shrouds the lock by which all my future loves have been gauged. That carefree, poignant, mischievous, deliquesce, momentous, virgin green. The tragedy is that in loving someone who is great, desire is a terrible thing pulled up by the bootstraps to instil wicked temptations, fantastical ability, obsession, confusion and exquisite abandonment- mental illness if you like.

About the Author

Matthew Woods was born in 1970 in Chigwell Row, Essex. Matthew’s interest in literature began at Chigwell School through reading, theatre and being published in the school magazine. He went on to study academic English Literature and Poetry but dropped out due to the beginnings of schizo-affective disorder. During the next ten years Matthew’s time was spent between his family home, Victorian asylums and Frinton-On-Sea where most of his writing was done. He has been a founder member of Spanners, Clubhouse and the SAFE advocacy service in Epping Forest which provides recovery and reduces the stigma of mental health issues. Matthew met his partner Lorriane in Essex and they have a daughter called Constance, to whom ‘Strands of my Lover’s Hair’ is dedicated.
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WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

“I would sit up all night and sometimes first thing in the morning just banging away at the keyboard hoping to loosen the chains of a mind that had condemned itself. I was in hell and all I could do was stay in that agonizing position and keep writing, so I knew I was still alive.” - Michele Koh

Description

'Rotten Jellybeans' is a comical and surreal adventure into the madcap world of teenage girlhood. Michele Koh looks at her rapid and frightening descent into drug addiction and manic depression with raw and punchy honesty. This collection of 22 short stories and poems about drugs, love, sex and insanity is perhaps a tale that every single young girl making that transition into womanhood can understand. Dark, funny and delightful.

About the Author

Michele Koh is a journalist who has written for publications like Psychologies and Harper’s Bazaar. She is also a scriptwriter and a children’s book illustrator. Michele was editor of the LCC News at the London College of Communication, where she graduated in journalism in 2007.

Born in Singapore in 1978, she attended an all girls’ convent school and began working in television as a children’s show host when she was 11. In her late teens, Michele was diagnosed with bipolar schizo-affective disorder and underwent 7 treatments of electro-convulsive therapy. In the following years she grappled with behavioural addictions, and dependency on prescription drugs. It was during the nadir of her illness that Michele began to write.
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