Rethinking Madness

Paris Williams

Description

As the research continues to accumulate, we find that the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia and the other related psychotic disorders has lost virtually all credibility. We've learned that full recovery is not only possible, but may actually be the most common outcome given the right conditions. Furthermore, Dr. Paris Williams' own groundbreaking research, as mentioned in the New York Times, has shown that recovery often entails a profound positive transformation. In Rethinking Madness, Dr. Williams takes the reader step by step on a highly engaging journey of discovery, exploring how the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia has become so profoundly misguided, while crafting a much more accurate and hopeful vision. As this vision unfolds, we discover a deeper sense of appreciation for the profound wisdom and resilience that lies within all of our beings, even those we may think of as being deeply disturbed, while also coming to the unsettling realization of just how thin the boundary is between so called madness and so called sanity.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Abnormal psychology

Informations

• Publié par: Sky's Edge Publishing
• Date de parution: 19 juin 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780984986712
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

As the recovery research continues to accumulate, we find that the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia and psychosis has lost nearly all credibility: After over 100 years and billions of dollars spent on research looking for schizophrenia and other related psychotic disorders in the brain, we still have not found any substantial evidence that these disorders are actually caused by a brain disease. We have learned that full recovery from schizophrenia and other related psychotic disorders is not only possible but is surprisingly common. We’ve discovered that those diagnosed in the United States and other“developed” nations are much less likely to recover than those in the poorest countries of the world; furthermore, those diagnosed with a psychotic disorder in the West today may fare even worse than those so diagnosed over 100 years ago. We’ve seen that the long-term use of antipsychotics and the mainstreampsychiatric paradigm of care is likely to be causing significantly more harm than benefit, greatly increasing the likelihood that a transient psychotic episode will harden into a chronic psychotic condition. And we’ve learned that many people who recover from these psychotic disorders do not merely return to their pre-psychotic condition, but often undergo a profound positive transformation with far more lasting benefits than harms.
In Rethinking Madness, Dr. Paris Williams takes the reader step by step on a highly engaging journey of discovery, exploring how the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia has become so profoundly misguided. He reveals the findings of his own pioneering research of people who have fully recovered from schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, weaving the stories of these participants into the existing literature and crafting a surprisingly clear and coherent vision of the entire psychotic process, from onset to full recovery.
As this vision unfolds, we discover…

…a deeper sense of appreciation for the profound wisdom and resilience that lie within all of our beings, even those we may think of as being deeply disturbed.
…ways to support those struggling with psychotic experiences while also coming to appreciate the important ways that these individuals can contribute to society.
…that by gaining a deeper understanding of madness, we gain a deeper understanding of the core existential dilemmas with which we all must struggle, arriving at the unsettling realization of just how thin the boundary really is between madness and sanity.
More Acclaim for Rethinking Madness
“In Rethinking Madness , Paris Williams writes of how science, history, and personal stories of recovery from madness all tell of how the medical model of schizophrenia/psychosis is horribly flawed and needs to be fundamentally rethought. In a clear manner, he lays out the evidence for a ‘paradigm shift’ in our thinking that, at its core, would offer people who experience madness both hope and the knowledge that robust recovery is possible, and, with the right support, quite common. And as the personal stories in his book reveal, for some, a bout of madness can be a transformative personal journey.”
Robert Whitaker, winner of the George Polk award in medical writing, and author of Mad in America and Anatomy of an Epidemic

“In this eye-opening book, Paris Williams effectively challenges the prevailing myths about the origins and treatment of psychosis, suggesting that it is a natural, although precarious, process of self-restoration that should be protected, rather than a hopeless lifelong degenerative brain disease to be managed and medicated. The mounting evidence for the abject failure of the medical model to treat psychosis is presented alongside six case studies of people who fully recovered despite psychiatric treatment and who felt more deeply in touch with hope, meaning, a sense of aliveness and the interconnectedness of life as a result of their difficult journeys. Williams also offers an innovative and profound model that synthesizes current Existential theory, attachment theory and Buddhist mindfulness perspectives. Rethinking Madness is an important and hopeful book.”
John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., adjunct professor of psychology, senior editor of The Sacred Mirror and Listening From the Heart of Silence , and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology

“At last, a book that summarizes the very latest–not in brain chemistry–but in the phenomenology of psychosis. Rethinking Madness is a book of profound illumination both for the scholar and the person struggling for his or her psychical life. I highly recommend this book to all those who are touched by the psychotic experience, which really means all of us–and to find out why, just read this book!”
Kirk Schneider, Ph.D., adjunct professor of psychology, editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology , and author of The Paradoxical Self and Awakening to Awe

“Every page of this book was exciting to me, offering clear, profound insights not only into the processes of psychosis/alternative realities, but also into philosophical views about human experience, including the spiritual elements of the psychotic process. . . . While Dr. Williams never trivializes the anguish and psychic and sometimes physical pain mentally ill people endure, he is never without hope for their relief. His help/harm equation in the recovery process had me enthralled with its truth.
This book should be a part of the training of every physician, psychiatrist, and pastoral counselor, and owned by the family and friends of every mentally ill person as well as the sufferers themselves.” Joanne Greenberg, author of the international bestseller I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

“ Rethinking Madness provides not only a compelling critique of the pessimistic and damaging ‘medical model’ that has dominated mental health services and research for far too long, it offers some hopeful alternatives. In particular, Dr. Williams explains how spiritual understandings, in the broadest sense, can help make sense of even the strangest of experiences and also help point the way toward recovery.”
John Read, Ph.D., professor of psychology, editor of the scientific journal Psychosis , and co-editor of Models of Madness

“Those of us diagnosed with that crushing word, ‘psychotic,’ are too often given labels and false information that result in hopelessness. In Rethinking Madness , Dr. Williams turns this ‘no hope model’ on its head. Dr. Williams effectively challenges outdated, disproven, harmful theories that still dominate today’s mental health industry. Most importantly, Dr. Williams closely listens to people who have been through the experiences so often labeled as ‘psychotic.’ Not only does this book show there is hope for full recovery and reintegration into society, but there is plenty of evidence here that this journey may have surprising benefits both for the psychiatric survivor, and for our sick-souled society itself.”
David W. Oaks, Executive Director, MindFreedom International

“This book contains a brave, well-researched, and invaluable new approach to the vexing subject of psychosis. The case studies and the conclusions are novel and unique in their formulations. The insights and theoretical postulates derived from this research are important and likely to move the field forward in unexpected ways. For people who have experienced psychosis or altered states, it is a ray of hope in their struggle to thrive.”
Peter Stastny, M.D., lecturer of Epidemiology and Co-Author of The Lives they Left Behind—Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic

“With his groundbreaking new book, Rethinking Madness , Paris Williams takes us into a world in which he joins psychology with Buddhism and Western philosophy to give us a panoramic view of how madness is born, matures, and may be resolved. Backed by an extensive and engaging survey of historical and contemporary views of psychosis and its etiology, Williams presents an integrative, deep and ultimately humane body of theory and practice that will be of great use to anyone working in this intriguing and difficult area.”
Joe Goodbread, Ph.D., author of Living on the Edge and Befriending Conflict

“Paris Williams has written a much needed and extremely thoughtful critique of the major approaches to psychosis. Current psychiatric treatment, while helpful for some, has proven inadequate for most psychotic patients. This book helps us to understand why. But beyond offering a critical appraisal of current methods, Williams also offers a powerfully hopeful vision of new possibilities for the treatment and transformation of this puzzling disorder.”
Brant Cortright, Ph.D., professor of psychology, and author of Psychotherapy and Spirit and Integral Psychology

“Dr. Paris Williams presents a clearly written comprehensive treatise on madness. Deceptively easy to understand, yet thought provoking and challenging, his work offers plausible reasons to overcome the too simple historical medical approaches that ignore the richness of the human experience and the positive potential inherent in one’s journey through madness. Dr. Williams’ book will expand the reader’s view of this quintessential and ubiquitous human experience that we have come to call madness.”
Ronald Bassman, Ph.D., author of A Fight to Be: A Psychologist’s Experience from Both Sides of the Locked Door

“This is an important book. It states boldly what many of us working in the field and following research based on lived experience have come to suspect: ‘the mainstream vision of psychosis currently held in the West is somehow seriously missing the mark.’ This book provides compelling research evidence to support this conclusion as well as gathering and developing more hopeful alternatives that offer real healing.”
Isabel Clarke, author of Madness, Mystery and the Survival of God , and editor of Psychosis and Spirituality