Posted 30.04.2025
Book Review: Coping with Psychosis and Schizophrenia: Family Stories of Hope and Recovery. By Juliana Onwumere, David Shiers and Elizabeth Kuipers
A Review by Peter Woodhams – Carer and Carer Consultant
This is a very nice small book of 80 pages that will be of interest to mental health professionals and families affected by a serious mental health condition. It is easy to read, well presented and informative and particularly helpful to family members in the early stages of supporting someone with psychosis.
It’s messages are based around the personal stories of some 22 carers who are parents or siblings or partners or children or friends of someone affected by psychosis. Each story is different and so the messages are varied but together they illustrate how complex serious mental health conditions are and how heavily they impact on family members and friends offering their support
The distinguished primary and supporting authors are all respected mental health professionals with varied clinical and caring experiences and together they have been able to produce a book based more on the lived experiences of carers rather than formal research.
Clearly this will be of great interest to newish carers who will also find the opening 10 page chapter ‘Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia’ to be immensely informative if a bit daunting. This chapter covers the background, common symptoms, causes, outcomes and treatments. It would have been so helpful for my wife and I to have been able to access these pages when our son was first unwell many years ago to help us understand the complexities of the illness as we had to wait many years to build up the appropriate knowledge
Most carers will be able to find at least one carer’s story with which they can relate from the 22 in the book but there is a short chapter at the end which offers a summary and conclusions along with a schedule of useful websites
The book is a very useful read for carers and for professionals making their way in the world of complex mental health conditions. It might have been helpful to have a few more accounts that expanded on the approach of modern early intervention services and the benefits of accessing psychological interventions. Personally I was disappointed that little mention was made of effective family interventions as Behavioural Family Therapy had such positive outcomes for my wife and me and of course our son.
The book can be purchased here: Coping with Psychosis and Schizophrenia: Family Stories of Hope and Recovery By Juliana Onwumere, David Shiers and Elizabeth Kuipers Cambridge University Press. 2024. £14.99 (pb). 110 pp. ISBN 9781911623694 | BJPsych Bulletin | Cambridge Core