UEL psychologists contribute to groundbreaking mental health research

Many people believe that schizophrenia is a frightening brain disease that makes people unpredictable and potentially violent and can only be controlled by medication. This is false, according to a new report produced for the British Psychological Society’s Division of Clinical Psychology.

Emeritus Professor Mary Boyle and Dr David Harper of UEL are part of a group of clinical psychologists from eight universities and six NHS trusts who wrote ‘Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia: Why people sometimes hear voices, believe things that others find strange, or appear out of touch with reality, and what can help’. People who have experienced psychosis also contributed to the report.

Their findings could have important implications for the way we understand mental illness and for the future of mental health services. The report says that:
The problems we think of as ‘psychosis’ – hearing voices, believing things that others find strange, or appearing out of touch with reality – can be understood in the same way as other psychological problems such as anxiety or shyness.
Psychosis and schizophrenia are often a reaction to trauma or adversity - which impacts the way we experience and interpret the world.
Nobody knows what causes a particular person’s problems. A clinician must sit down with a patient and talk with them about their experiences and feelings. The opportunity to discuss things through in this way is vital but rarely occurs.

The report also provides an accessible overview of current knowledge about psychosis and schizophrenia.

“The forms of mental distress which result in diagnoses like psychosis and schizophrenia are much misunderstood,” said Dr Harper, a Reader in Clinical Psychology and Programme Director (Academic) of the Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at UEL.

“This new report is written in accessible language, designed so that ordinary members of the public, including service users and their friends and families, can fully inform themselves about the nature and causes of psychosis,” he said.

It will help people gauge “the pros and cons of different forms of help and the kind of long term changes needed to improve the response of mental health services,” Harper added.

‘Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia’ can be downloaded free from http://www.understandingpsychosis.net. Copies are also available from http://shop.bps.org.uk.