The Psychotic Wavelength provides a psychoanalytical framework for clinicians to use in everyday general psychiatric practice and discusses how psychoanalytic ideas can be of great value when used in the treatment of seriously disturbed and disturbing psychiatric patients with psychoses, including both schizophrenia and the affective disorders. Richard Lucas suggests that when clinicians are faced with psychotic patients, the primary concern should be to make sense of what is happening during their breakdown. This process allows clinicians to distinguish between, and appropriately address, the psychotic and non-psychotic parts of the personality.
Key Features
- The case for a psychoanalytical perspective on psychosis
- A historical overview of psychoanalytical theories for psychosis
- Clinical evidence supporting the concept of a psychotic wavelength
- The psychotic wavelength in affective disorders
- Implications for management and education
Additional Information
He refers to this as tuning into the psychotic wavelength, a process that allows clinicians to identify the psychotic wavelength, which can help the patient come to terms with the realities of living with a psychotic disorder. Divided into five parts and illustrated throughout with illuminating clinical vignettes, case examples, and theoretical and clinical discussions, this book is an essential resource for anyone working with disturbed psychiatric patients. It will be of particular interest to junior psychiatrists and nursing staff and will be invaluable in helping to maintain treatment aims and staff morale. It will also be useful for more experienced psychiatrists and psychoanalysts.
