This evidence-based text puts a human face on mental disorders, illuminating the lived experience of people with mental health difficulties and their caregivers. Systematically reviewing the qualitative research conducted on living with a mental disorder, this text coalesces a large body of knowledge and centers on those disorders that have sufficient qualitative research to synthesize, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, intellectual disabilities, mood disorders, schizophrenia and dementia. Supported by numerous quotes, the text explores the perspective of those suffering with a mental disorder and their caregivers, discovering their experience of burden, their understanding of and the meaning they give to their disorder, the strengths and coping they have used to manage, as well as their interactions with the formal treatment system and the use of medication. This book will be of immense value to students, practitioners, and academics that support, study, and treat people in mental distress and their families.
Includes bibliographical references and index.