Mental Illness--A handbook for carers

Mental Health Nursing,  Jul/Aug 2002  by Rawcliffe, Dave

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Mental Illness - A handbook for carers Rosalind Ramsay, Claire Gerada, Sarah Mars and George Szmukler (Eds) (2001) Jessica Kingsley ISBN 185302 934 3 Pp 304

This is a resource for those who seek to help people to understand the very basics of mental illness e.g. the new carer or student. It is divided into two sections (1) The major conditions in mental illness and (2) mental health services. These sections are starting points, with chapters being well written and interesting, but lacking depth.

Sadly, the resource section print is small and at the back so I missed it on first reading. The main thrust is `useful organisations', but this needs expanding with a list of useful publications, as carers need to be able to get information easily.

Another problem is the failure to address the issue of 'carers' in their own right. It has an excellent chapter of four pages entitled `being a carer', which should form a major section break i.e. it needs greatly expanding to become useful.

The book has a hidden benefit in giving the reader an insight into the medical mindset. It is a good starting point but needs to go much further to be of real use to all but the very new carer.

* David Rawcliffe is a charge nurse at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Copyright Community Psychiatric Nurses Association Jul/Aug 2002
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