Schizophrenia: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Paperback]

Christopher Frith (Author), Eve Johnstone (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192802216 | ISBN-13: 978-0192802217 | Publication Date: September 25, 2003

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`a short but mind-expanding book' Philip Graetzel, Focus

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. Eve C. Johnstone MD, FRCP, FRCPsych is Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry in the University of Edinburgh. In addition to an extensive clinical practice she conducts large scale research on all aspects of schizophrenia designed to improve treatment and identify risk factors. She has published over 300 scientific papers and among other books, is senior editor of the Companion to Psychiatry Studies (Harcourt, Brace, 1998) and Schizophrenia: Concepts and Clinical management CUP, 1999.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192802216
• ISBN-13: 978-0192802217
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 3.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #328,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Schizophrenia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good general overview of schizophrenia, November 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Schizophrenia: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars good introduction overall, January 6, 2012

By 

Gabriel E. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schizophrenia: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

I myself suffer from schizophrenia and I felt that this book was a good introduction to schizophrenia overall. He makes a good argument overall that schizophrenia has a physical basis. I especially liked his section on schizophrenia and drugs. The section shows how the effects of drugs on a person show that schizophrenia has a physical basis. For example, the effects of anti-psychotics on improving the positive symptoms of most schizophrenics suggests a physical basis for schizophrenia. Additionally, the effects of drugs such as Amphetamines that induce schizophrenia-like psychosis(including what are known as "first-rank symptoms" show that something physical can induce a psychosis quite like schizophrenia which suggests schizophrenia has a physical basis.