The Complete Family Guide to Schizophrenia: Helping Your Loved One Get the Most Out of Life

Very well written and comprehensive. A must read for anyone who has family or friend with mental illness. Beauty!

This is book is just what our family was looking for when we learned that our son had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. The biggest question my wife and I had was whether there was any hope for him. We were terrified by the diagnosis, and everything we'd heard about schizophrenia, and didn't know where to turn for help and accurate information. Fortunately, somebody at our local National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) chapter recommended this book, and it has made a huge difference to our family. The Complete Family Guide delivers a consistent message that there is hope for people with schizophrenia, and introduces the concept of recovery from the illness as a way of helping people rebuild meaning and purpose in their lives. This was a new and refreshing angle for us, considering all of the negative attention that is given to schizophrenia in the media. The emphasis on recovery had an important effect on our attitude towards our son, and how our family has coped with his illness. We've learned how to work together, including our son, and not against each other, and this has made our family stronger and closer. A great deal of information is provided in this book, but it is written in a practical, hands-on, easily used style. The first two sections of the book describe basic facts about schizophrenia, and how the illness affects family members. The section on how schizophrenia affects different family members was very helpful, since there are different chapters for parents, siblings, spouses, and children. This allowed my wife and I to read about the experiences of other parents, and for our son's sisters and brother to learn about how other siblings have been affected. The remainder of the book, which is most of the book, describes how families can help a relative with schizophrenia. This includes summarizing the principles of treatment and how to get professionals to work with your family. We found the advice about dealing with common problems such as medication non-compliance, reducing stress in the family, and coping with the symptoms of hallucinations, lack of motivation, and substance abuse especially helpful with our son. We found the guidance in the final part of the book on helping a relative improve different areas of living to be very useful, including relationships, school, and work. After searching for answers for so long, we finally hit a goldmine in this book. Instead of helplessly sitting by and watching our son's life spiral out of control, we began to learn how to work together, with him, and with his treatment team. It has been a lot of work, but we now know there is hope, a future for all of us, and that it's up to us what we want to make of it. Grateful father

It's a book of reference for families but also for practitioner's. It's not a book to read from page 1 to 470 in one time. The book is very helpful for families to get the information they need. An excellent help for families to manage their own situation.

I found this book very helpful, and very practically useful. There is a good introduction to schizophrenia, explaining how the illness is diagnosed, symptoms, and related problems. Also in the introduction is a very interesting and hopeful chapter on recovery from schizophrenia, and another chapter on determining the treatment needs of a relative with this disorder. What I liked most about the book is the practical information for family members about helping a relative cope with schizophrenia. The chapter on medications is outstanding, with detailed information about different types of medications, strategies for addressing side effects and adherence, evaluating the quality of someone's pharmacological treatment. I also liked the worksheets and easy-to-follow advice in chapters on coping with common problems like psychotic symptoms, cognitive problems, depression, and substance abuse. Last, the final section of the book is great--it addresses improving quality of life in areas like work, social relationships, and independent living skills. I recommend this book to any family member with a relative with schizophrenia. In fact, it should be required reading for professionals as well!

We were very pleased with the information found in this book. We had been searching for something that would help us understand what our Grandson was going through. It has given his parents new hope also.