Unbranded Treating the 'Untreatable' All Books sku-10842066

Treating the 'Untreatable': Healing in the Realms of Madness by Ira Steinman is a new English-language paperback for a college or higher education audience. ISBN: 9781855756809. Listed as Unbranded in All Books under sku-10842066. The book examines intensive psychotherapy for severe psychotic disturbances, schizophrenia and delusional disorder. It describes how exploring hallucinations, delusions and thought disorder can help patients return to relationships and daily functioning, even after years or decades of illness. Steinman argues that understanding the personal meaning of psychosis, alongside judicious use of antipsychotic medication when indicated, can produce changes that last longer than medication alone. Some patients in the studies came to understand the origins and symbolism of their symptoms and stopped taking antipsychotic medication. The book includes an overview of patients' experiences, a history of intensive psychotherapy in this area and twelve case histories with varying degrees of recovery. Some patients worked through long-standing delusional systems, reduced extensive medication and maintained gains for decades. Written for general readers, students and mental health practitioners, it also asks why patients who responded to insight-oriented therapy had previously been considered untreatable and given high doses of antipsychotics. It discusses psychiatry's emphasis on medication over combining it with dynamic psychotherapy.