Lives Interrupted: Psychiatric Narratives of Struggle and Resilience [Hardcover]

Lives Interrupted: Psychiatric Narratives of Struggle and Resilience provides insight into the everyday experiences of individuals struggling with severe psychic distress during a six-month immersion program at the Fountain House headquarters, a New York-based organization that works to address the effects of serious mental illness. These narratives add complexity and objectivity to the expanding discussion of psychiatric treatment plans. Contributors to this collection argue that narratives are vital to treatment and should not be treated as secondary options to standard diagnosis and treatment practices that rely heavily on pharmaceuticals and often result in short-term revolving-door interventions for complex forms of human suffering.

Michael OLoughlinis professor in the College of Education and Health Sciences and the Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University.

Secil Arac-Orhun, PhD, is licensed clinical psychologist.

Montana Queler, PhD, is psychologist and licensed mental health counselor.

OLoughlin (Adelphi Univ.) here joins forces with several practioner-colleagues to provide considerable insight into the lives of people suffering psychotic disorders (whose condition is termed severe psychic distress). Summarizing the findings from a large qualitative research study involving extensive interviews with individuals living at a residential community for persons diagnosed with psychosis, most chapters summarize individual interviews and provide insights into the subjective experience of each individual. What makes these chapters particularly interesting is that the experiences are addressed in all their complexity. The authors explore not only emotional suffering and functional problems but also how individuals try to incorporate their experiences with severe psychic distress into understanding themselves, and how they try to fit into the larger social world. . . the text provides considerable focus on understanding as a means ol£!