Lived Experience Forum

[Queenie]

Hi gentle folks, Does anyone know of books (be they biographies or health manuals) that are a good resource to learn about this illness? At the moment I am reading Schizophrenia For Dummies but it is a little outdated and also The Soloist by Steve Lopez. At home I have Changing Minds and Henry's Demons, both of which are good but I want to learn more say I can educate my loved ones or even pass books along for them to read the facts.

Any help greatly appreciated! 🙂

PS- I've also already got the SANE factsheet which doesn't answer all my questions unfortunately. 

[Kurra]

Try Google. You'll find books on there too but also search for academic articles. Most ending in edu.xx should be reliable sources of information.
Try searching on 'explaining schizophrenia to family and friends ' should help too. Again check details about the writer. There's a lot of questionable info on the neet @Queenie. 🎶💕🎶

[Appleblossom]

Good on you @Queenie

Simple fact sheets dont really cut it if you actually have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Its best to get on top of it properly .. so you can be a good advocate for yourself and others.

MARY HUNT

RD LAING

out of date but still sound

and ACADEMIC articles as @Kurra suggests ... whatever turns you on .. ie what is relevant to you ..

that you know more about than anyone else on the planet.

then learn about meds

then read the DSM HISTORIES ... they try and make it definitive .. but it is far from it.

and the DEBATES about what goes into them

and the link about people who beat it .. and how they manage their hallucinations ...

Good Luck  ... dont be afraid of it so much ... it has terrible stigma and is terrible to live with .. but find your own mastery ...

[Queenie]

Thanks for the tips @Kurra and @Appleblossom. I think it's time to make Google my friend! 🙂

[NikNik]

Hi @Queenie

One book that pops to mind is A Beautiful Mind

I have also come across this resource which is quite substantial - but you may have come across something like this already?

By the way - if you have any feedback on the information SANE provides on schizophrenia, we would love to hear it.

Currently we are reviewing all of our content and hope to have it all peer reviewed. We have recently started with BPD content 🙂

[Queenie]

Thanks @NikNik for the resource. It seems very useful and I've not read it before so thank you.

I'll re-read the SANE info and be happy to provide feedback on the factsheets. 🙂

[april]

Hi @Queenie

I remember wanting to read and read about schizophrenia when I was first diagnosed more than 20 years ago. I would pass on the very good ones to close relatives to read.

I have read several good books about living with schizophrenia which are probably outdated now. I suggest trying out your local library, they may have some books about the illness.

I have read A Beautiful Mind and didn't find it helpful because a lot of the biography was about John Nash's achievements in Intelligence and the Mathematical fields. Too little of the story was about his illness, I thought.

I have however read a book which I bought on Ebay called Eyebrows and Other Fish by Anthony Scally. This is a biography of a man living with schizophrenia in the UK. Excellent read.

Tell me I'm here by Anne Deveson, about her sons life with schizophrenia. Also an excellent book. The book was published in 1991 in Australia, so not really sure how you would get hold of a copy now.

Hope this helps in some way.

[Former-Member]

Hi @Queenie,
I've found these two helpful for me, not about the science, more about other's experiences, cause I have felt so alone going through this by myself:
eleanor longden - her book and ted talk
Hawkes, E - When quietness came