The Beginner's Guide to Understanding Schizophrenia

Understanding schizophrenia can be difficult. Maybe you've reached for a schizophrenia textbook only to find it's too dense to really understand psychosis. This is different. The goal of this book is to help you really understand schizophrenia in plain language. It's about revealing what we know about schizophrenia today, all the way from defining what a psychotic episode is, to understanding the neuroscience of psychosis, to reviewing schizophrenia treatment and the importance of intervening early in psychosis. You'll discover all the details from the first episode of psychosis to schizophrenia in late life so you can understand psychosis and ultimately survive schizophrenia. Maybe your adolescent has schizophrenia or has started hearing voices, or maybe you're a person living with schizophrenia; this comprehensive book is here to help you gain insight into psychosis and emotion, psychotic depression, and psychotic reactions. It's schizophrenia revealed in plain language. In the first part, we'll review the definition of schizophrenia; provide examples of the most common symptoms; detail its relationship to other psychotic disorders; and discuss the most common co-occurring conditions. In the second part, we'll talk about historical and current understandings of what causes schizophrenia; review the risk factors for schizophrenia; and discuss how schizophrenia impacts the brain and the person more globally -- this is where we'll talk about genetics, brain structure, brain function, brain development, and drugs. Finally, in the third part, we'll talk about evidence-based treatment approaches to schizophrenia, beginning with a discussion of different treatment models and then reviewing how treatment plans are developed before finally discussing a host of interventions, including medication, skills training, psychotherapy, and family interventions. The entire book is about promoting recovery from schizophrenia and promoting recovery from first-episode psychosis. By the end, you'll know all the latest on schizophrenia symptoms, causes, and treatment.