First Person Accounts of Mental Illness and Recovery

In First Person Accounts of Mental Illness, case studies ofindividuals experiencing schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxietydisorders, personality disorders, substance use disorders, andother mental ailments will be provided for students studying theclassification and treatment of psychopathology. All of the casesare written from the perspective of the mentally ill individual,providing readers with a unique perspective of the experience ofliving with a mental disorder.

"In their book First Person Accounts of Mental Illness andRecovery, LeCroy and Holschuh offer the student, researcher, orlayperson the intimate voice of mental illness from the inside.First Person Accounts of Mental Illness and Recovery is a wonderfulbook, and it is an ideal, even indispensable, companion totraditional mental health texts. I am grateful that they have giventhe majority of this book to the voices that are too oftenunheard."
—John S. Brekke, PhD, Frances G. Larson Professor ofSocial Work Research, School of Social Work, University of SouthernCalifornia; Fellow, American Academy of Social Work and SocialWelfare

"This is absolutely a must-read for anyone who has been touchedby someone with a mental illness, whether it be personal orprofessional. It is imperative that this book be required readingin any course dealing with psychopathology and the DSM, whether itbe in psychology, psychiatry, social work, nursing, orcounseling."
—Phyllis Solomon, PhD, Professor in the School ofSocial Policy & Practice and Professor of Social Work inPsychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania

A unique volume of first person narratives written from theperspective of individuals with a mental illness

Drawing from a broad range of sources, including narrativeswritten expressly for this book, self-published accounts, andexcerpts from previously published memoirs, this distinctive set ofpersonal stories covers and illustrates a wide spectrum of mentaldisorder categories, including:

• Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
• Mood disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Personality disorders
• Substance-related disorders
• Eating disorders
• Impulse control disorders
• Cognitive disorders
• Somatoform disorders
• Dissociative disorders
• Gender identity disorders
• Sleep disorders
• Disorders usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood, oradolescence

Reflecting a recovery orientation and strengths-based approach,the authentic and relevant stories in First Person Accounts ofMental Illness and Recovery promote a greater appreciation for theindividual's role in treatment and an expansion of hope andrecovery.