Product 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75580 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

About the Author
Chris Frith FRS is Professor in Neuropsychology at University College London and deputy director of the Functional Imaging Laboratory at the Institute of Neurology. He is a Wellcome Principal Research Fellow and uses brain imaging techniques to investigate the neural correlates of consciousness in health and disease. He has published over 200 scientific papers and his book The cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia (Psychology Press, 1992) was awarded the 1996 Book Award by the
British Psychological Society.

Customer Reviews

Excellent breadth and depth, perfect for people new to the subject
An excellent book for somebody like me who knew nothing about schizophrenia apart from the cliches and the bad taste jokes.

It covers all the bases- the history of the disorder, the different explanations that have been suggested for its cause, a variety of accounts from schizophrenics about how it feels, a fair amount of detail about the science of the brain under schizophrenia, modern day opinions about treating people with schizophrenia, and more.

All of this is perfectly well balance, clear and easy-to-read, and I found it to contain just the right amount of depth. An excellent, and short (not very short!) introduction.

A good introduction to the field
The book is an interesting read. I particularily liked the last chapter "The importance of Schizophrenia", which raises many intriguing questions on what we can learn from the schizophrenia. I would recommend it to someone who wants to know more about the disease (but not too much).

valuable as a source for background reading
This book describes the history, concepts, symptoms, importance, environmental and biological factors of schizophrenia. The authors included several boxes of illustrating cases, DSM-IV criteria, drawings of patients, newspaper fragments, ...

Schizophrenia is a terrible condition that can ruin people's lives and since there are a lot of misunderstandings it's important to read books like this: it provides you a clear and interesting overview of what schizophrenia really is about.

It doesn't seem to be organized as a textbook for a psychiatry course (so I wouldn't recommend it for that purpose) - it's rather intended as a source for background reading.

Although there is a brief chapter about drugs, a bit more information concerning the pharmacological, clinical and social aspects of antipsychotics would have made it complete. But overall: good book.