Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

New Schizophrenia Handbook For Advice and Support

An excellent new free handbook for people affected by schizophrenia and psychosis has been launched recently by Schizophrenia Ireland. "Discover the Road Ahead" is a comprehensive and user-friendly handbook that gives people with schizophrenia and their families information, advice and support. Its easy to read, and a good primer for people new to the issues associated with schizophrenia, or simply those who want a quick reminder of how to handle issues that come up frequently. (Note: Schizophrenia Ireland also has a very good booklet on suicide prevention as it relates to schizophrenia)

The handbook - a cross European initiative - provides helpful information on detecting the early signs of schizophrenia, how to deal with diagnosis and outlines information on supports and the recovery process. All the people involved in producing the handbook have first-hand experience of coping with schizophrenia, including people with self-experience, relatives, friends and service providers.

"Discover the Road Ahead" includes examples of Irish people's experiences and is being made available to people with self-experience of schizophrenia and their relatives free of charge.

[Note: the booklet does include a few pages of what I believe is written in the Irish language - so if you can't read those pages, just skip them]

You can download the booklet for free from the link below (its a large 617kb .pdf file so it may take a minute or two to download):

Click Here to download the "Discover the Road Ahead" schizophrenia handbook

The file requires Adobe Acrobat reader - if you do not already have it installed on your computer, its available here for free.

Schizophrenia - Discover the Road Ahead - Index

Chapter 1
Emma’s story - Part 1 7
Schizophrenia: An overview 8
Where is my life going? 8
What is schizophrenia? 9
Symptoms of schizophrenia 10
Early warning signs 13
When to seek help 15
Who to approach for help 15
Waiting for a diagnosis 16
How long will it take? 16

Chapter 2
Schizophrenia explained 18
Fact and fiction 18
Why me? 20
How will schizophrenia affect my life? 22
How will the illness progress? 23
What are my chances of getting better? 24
The need to go to hospital 25
How can I understand my treatment? 26
Importance of self-management 26
Patrick’s story 27

Chapter 3
The diagnosis is real 28
Dealing with the diagnosis 28
Making sense of the diagnosis 29
Learning to: 30-36
• cope 30
• reduce stress 30
• beat low mood 33
• relax 34
• regain control 35
• combat negative thoughts 36
Alcohol and illicit drugs 37
How can families help? 38
Anna and Mary’s story 40

Chapter 4
Treatment explained 42
Is there a cure? 42
Antipsychotic medication 45
Typical antipsychotics 45
Atypical antipsychotics 46
Tailoring treatment 48
Switching treatment 49
Types of medication 49
Side effects – what to expect 50
Taking your medication 5 1
Questions to ask about your medication 52
Treatment diary 53
Non-medication treatments 54
• Cognitive behaviour therapy 54
• Psychotherapy 55
• Family therapy 56
• Counselling 56
Choosing a therapist 57
Questions to ask your therapist 58
Mark’s story 59

Chapter 5
Help is at hand 60
Reaching out for support 60
Liam’s story 65

Chapter 6
The good days
and the bad days 66
Always two steps forward,
sometimes one step back 66
Regaining your confidence 67
Importance of physical health 68
Personal relationships 69
Coping with stigma and discrimination 70

Chapter 7
Getting back on the road 72
Slowly does it 72
Plan your day 73
Keep a calendar 75
Day-by-day diary 76
Michael’s story 77
Chapter 8
Helping someone
with schizophrenia 78
Don’t become the patient 78
The search for information 82
Relapse – recognise the warning
signs and symptoms 83
Keep a diary 84
Coping with a crisis 84
Advance directive 86
Helen and Alice’s story 87
Emma’s story - Part 2 88

Chapter 9
Useful information 89
Glossary 90
Sources of information 94
Side effects of antipsychotic medication 95

Schizophrenia Ireland is the national organisation dedicated to upholding the rights and addressing the needs of those affected by schizophrenia and their caring relatives.

More Publications by Schizophrenia Ireland