RE: Return response/ Recovering Psych. Patients

Bob Green (bgreen@dyson.brisnet.org.au)
Tue, 1 Jul 1997 10:05:13 +1000


Lindsay,

I was inteested in your post:

>I have of late been asking clients of their personal meanings of voices,
>interesting beliefs (delusions & paranoia etc) and of medication. Olanzapine
>and Clozapine are very popular where I work- the culture constructs these as
>the "best and latest treatment" - the clients say yes there are less side
>effects and it seems to stop the voices a little- but as some of the
>cog-behaviourists in the UK are also asking- what of the personal construals/
>beliefs about voices, how do they relate to client histories etc and (as you
>have been discussing) how do clients construe adherence and recovery??

I came across some interesting Dutch literature which researched people who
reported hearing voices. Interestingly, a number of these people were not
given a formal psychiatric diagnosis. An offshoot of this work was
understanding how people live/cope with voices.

What sort of work do you do with the clients of your service?

>
>Chris Stevens work with insight is also relevant here- is a non compliant
>client one who invalidates the predictions of the worker? Is the client with
>no insight one who simply invalidates the world view of the worker? I see
>these as serious questions to consider, not to be thrown away as "anti
>psychiatry rhetoric".

Can you say more regarding Chris' work on insight?

The issue of people diagnosed as having schizophrenia would certainly appear
to be a useful area for PCP based inquiry.

Regards,

Bob

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