`This handbook planned for carer's will offer relatives and friends with noteworthy organizational health care information. It will also help guide carer's regarding the key roles, and the functions of support agencies that are seen as crucial elements when planning and seeking alternative care interventions...This book aims to provide carers with basic facts and the confidence to deal more effectively with their role.'
- The International Journal of Psychiatric Nursing Research
This is an essential resource for all people caring for family members or friends with mental illness. Written by experts, Mental Illness: A Handbook for Carers provides basic information on:
* forms of mental illness
* treatment plans
* what to do in an emergency
* the role of mental health professionals and other agencies
* legal issues and confidentiality
* housing, work and benefits.
Mental Illness examines the provision made for people with mental illness and their carers, and the support that is available to them. It includes information on housing, employment, social services and the law. The writers avoid jargon, and the book includes a glossary of terms with which carers may be unfamiliar. Accessible, practical and comprehensive, this handbook acts as a one-stop shop for anyone caring for a person with a mental illness.
Rosalind Ramsay is a consultant psychiatrist at St Thomas' Hospital, London. She wrote the chapter on psychological disorders for the new edition of the Home Medical Manual, published by Dorling Kindersley and the British Medical Association. Claire Gerada is a GP and the lead clinician for a community drug and alcohol team. She also works as a senior policy advisor in the Department of Health. Sarah Mars is a Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. George Szmukler is a consultant psychiatrist and medical director at the Maudsley Hospital who has worked with carers to establish and evaluate support programmes.