The aphorism that madness and creative genius are opposing sides of the same coin predates contemporary psychiatry and has existed since the time of the great Stagirite Aristotle. Schizophrenia is one mental disorder intimately linked with creative thinking and achievement. There is no shortage of eminent scientists, thinkers, writers, artists, composers, and political activists tentatively theorized to have precariously balanced the great divide between the demons of schizophrenia and the muses of creative illumination, including Rene Descartes, Emanuel Swedenborg, John Forbes Nash, Leonardo da Vinci, and Joan of Arc, to name but a few. However, is that association veracious in an empirical sense? If it is, how exactly are schizophrenia and creative illumination related? Using new empirical findings, this book sheds new light upon the age-old assumption and goes further still in explaining how creative potential with world-fashioning powers can be channelled in individuals with this diagnosis. Mental health practitioners will find this book both intriguing and useful.

The aphorism that madness and creative genius are opposing sides of the same coin predates contemporary psychiatry and has existed since the time of the great Stagirite Aristotle. Schizophrenia is one mental disorder intimately linked with creative thinking and achievement. There is no shortage of eminent scientists, thinkers, writers, artists, composers, and political activists tentatively theorized to have precariously balanced the great divide between the demons of schizophrenia and the muses of creative illumination, including Rene Descartes, Emanuel Swedenborg, John Forbes Nash, Leonardo da Vinci, and Joan of Arc, to name but a few. However, is that association veracious in an empirical sense? If it is, how exactly are schizophrenia and creative illumination related? Using new empirical findings, this book sheds new light upon the age-old assumption and goes further still in explaining how creative potential with world-fashioning powers can be channelled in individuals with this diagnosis. Mental health practitioners will find this book both intriguing and useful.

Schizophrenia: The Positive Perspectivecounters a century-long tradition which has searched relentlessly for the critical deficits and dysfunctions in schizophrenic people. Peter Chadwick, who has himself suffered from the illness, shows that such people can demonstrate elevated creativity, empathy and social sensitivity and are by no means as irrational and misguided as is commonly thought. The author presents the fascinating case studies of some schizophrenics with whom he has worked. Using autobiography, biography, psychometric and experimental methods, he reveals areas of enhanced functioning in those vulnerable to the schizophrenia label, and argues for a much more positive picture of the schizophrenia-prone mind.

First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

"Teaches us how the therapists can combine his theoretical knowledge, interpersonal skills, and creative inspiration to engage the patient and eventually help him emerge into a psychic world more like our own. This book is a compelling challenge to the conventional wisdom that schizophrenia is nothing more than an organically determined, incomprehensible madness."--Back cover.

This fully revised second edition of Schizophrenia: The Positive Perspective uses biographical sketches and essays to discuss schizophrenia and related conditions, providing advice on methods of coping, routes to growth, recovery and well-being, and how schizophrenia can be viewed in a positive light. It also explores the insights of R.D. Laing and discusses how they can be applied to contemporary ideas and research. In this expanded edition Peter Chadwick, a previous sufferer, builds on his earlier edition and introduces new topics including: Cannabis smoking and schizophrenia. Psychoanalytic approaches to psychosis and their extension into the spiritual domain. Using cognitive behaviour therapy in the treatment of profound existential distress. How experiences on the edge of madness can be relevant to understanding reality. Schizophrenia: The Positive Perspective encourages hope, confidence and increased self-esteem in schizophrenia sufferers and raises new questions about how schizophrenia should be evaluated. It is important reading for anyone working with schizophrenic people including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other mental health professionals.

Leading researchers address conceptual and technical issues in schizophrenia and suggest novel strategies for advancing research and treatment. Despite major advances in methodology and thousands of published studies every year, treatment outcomes in schizophrenia have not improved over the last fifty years. Moreover, we still lack strategies for prevention and we do not yet understand how the interaction of genetic, developmental, and environmental factors contribute to the disorder. In this book, leading researchers consider conceptual and technical obstacles to progress in understanding schizophrenia and suggest novel strategies for advancing research and treatment. The contributors address a wide range of critical issues: the construct of schizophrenia itself; etiology, risk, prediction, and prevention; different methods of modeling the disorder; and treatment development and delivery. They identify crucial gaps in our knowledge and offer creative but feasible suggestions. These strategies include viewing schizophrenia as a heterogeneous group of conditions; adopting specific new approaches to prediction and early intervention; developing better integration of data across genetics, imaging, perception, cognition, phenomenology, and other fields; and moving toward an evidence-based, personalized approach to treatment requiring rational clinical decision-making to reduce functional disability. Contributors Robert Bittner, Robert W. Buchanan, Kristin S. Cadenhead, William T. Carpenter, Jr., Aiden Corvin, Daniel Durstewitz, André A. Fenton, Camilo de la Fuente-Sandoval, Jay A. Gingrich, Joshua A. Gordon, Chloe Gott, Peter B. Jones, René S. Kahn, Richard Keefe, Wolfgang Kelsch, James L. Kennedy, Matcheri S. Keshavan, Angus W. MacDonald III, Anil K. Malhotra, John McGrath, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Kevin J. Mitchell, Bita Moghaddam, Vera A. Morgan, Craig Morgan, Kim T. Mueser, Karoly Nikolich, Patricio O'Donnell, Michael O'Donovan, William A. Phillips, Wulf Rössler, Louis Sass, Akira Sawa, Jeremy K. Seamans, Steven M. Silverstein, William Spaulding, Sharmili Sritharan, Heike Tost, Peter Uhlhaas, Aristotle Voineskos, Michèle Wessa, Leanne M. Williams, Ashley Wilson, Til Wykes