Coping with Disorder in the Family

Many illnesses, disabilities or disorders can have profound effects upon family life. With a shift to community care in the 1980s the burden on family members was increasing. Relatives had often been ignored by helping agencies, and professional theories about family disorders had sometimes encouraged a negative attitude towards relatives. The intention of Coping With Disorder in the Family, originally published in 1987, was to provide those who helped family members with a sounder basis of knowledge upon which to base their practice. Each chapter in this book was written by someone who knew the problems which faced family members attempting to cope with a particular kind of family disorder. These problems are described with the help of frequent examples, and practical guidance is given about the ways in which helping agencies can aid and strengthen family members and involve them fully in the treatment process. The book combines theory and practice, and was an important book for a wide audience of practitioners and students in a variety of different disciplines and agencies at the time, including general practitioners, nurses, occupational therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and voluntary agencies. This book is a reissue originally published in 1987. The language used is a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.

Jim Orford is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Birmingham. Originally trained as a clinical psychologist, he later played a leading role in promoting community psychology in the UK and in Europe. He is an internationally recognised researcher and writer on addiction and its effects on the family. He was co-founder, and is now Honorary Life President, of AFINet, the Addiction and the Family International Network. Other current interests lie in the area of political psychology, notably in understanding the support for war, and the acceptance of high levels of economic inequality (website: www.jim.orford.org).

Acknowledgements. List of Contributors. 1. Introduction Jim Orford 2. Schizophrenia and the Family Max Birchwood and Joanne Smith 3. Families with Mentally Handicapped Children Jan Pahl and Lyn Quine 4. Chronic Physical Disorder in Adults Keith A. Nichols 5. Coping with Problem Drinking in the Family Barbara S. MacCrady and William Hay 6. Anorexia and the Family Robert L. Palmer, Pamela Marshall and Rhoda Oppenheimer 7. Senile Dementia and the Family Mary L. M. Gilhooly 8. Violence Towards Wives R. Emerson Dobash and Russell P. Dobash 9. Depression and the Family Liz Kuipers 10. Chronic Disease in Childhood Christine Eiser 11. Brain Damage and the Family Nick Moffat 12. Integration: A General Account of Families Coping with Disorder Jim Orford. Index.