Note: also check out our online PDF reference library for printable resource and information materials

• Recovery from Schizophrenia (inlcuding paranoid schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder
  • 10 Keys to Recovering from Schizophrenia - factors identified by a UCLA study of 23 patients who successfully returned to work and/or school with their symptoms under control.
  • Ways to Encourage Recovery - based on a client survey of 1076 participants, this research article identifies four key areas of focus for to develop an attitude of recovery. (Schiz Research, June 2005)
  • Dual Diagnosis (Schizophrenia and Drug Addiction/Alcoholism) - Special report on how drug and alcohol addiction impacts people with schizophrenia, and what to do about it.
  
  
  • Introduction, Treatment and Impact on Work
  
  
  • Schizophrenia: Returning Home
    
  • Schizophrenia: Symptoms and Management at Home
    
  • Schizophrenia: Rehabilitation
    
  • Schizophrenia: Course and Outcome

• Understanding the Person with Schizophrenia and Coping with the Issues
• Educational Programs on Coping
• A Highly Recommended Program for Families: "Family to Family"
• Understanding and responding to symptoms of schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia - Reasons for Optimism
• Managing the 5 most common Symptoms of Schizophrenia
• 60 Tips for Helping People with Mental Illness
• Coping with Mental Illness - What Parents Can/Can't Do For Siblings
• Strong Relationship Found Between Schizophrenia, Mood Disorders/Suicide
• Getting Support in Your Area
• How to Help when a person with a mental illness has been arrested - A handbook (in Adobe Acrobat format) that is a joint project of NAMI New York State and the Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project. Good general advice as to what procedures to follow when a person with mental illness is arrested.
• A Guide to Help Locate Missing Homeless and Mentally Ill - From the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
  


• Web-based resources - list of excellent sites and online information to browse at your leisure

• Information for those Married to People that Have Schizophrenia


• Marriage to a Person that has Schizophrenia - A Husband's Perspective



• Street Drugs Increase Risk of Schizophrenia




• Use of street drugs (marijuana/hash - cannabis, etc.) have been linked with significantly increased probability of developing schizophrenia. Psychiatrists in inner-city areas speak of cannabis being a factor in up to 80 per cent of schizophrenia cases. Researchers in New Zealand found that those who used cannabis by the age of 15 were more than three times (300%) more likely to develop illnesses such as schizophrenia. Other research has backed this up, showing that cannabis use increases the likelihood of psychosis by up to 700 per cent, and that the risk increases in proportion to the amount of canabis used (smoked or consumed). Research also suggests that there is an increased risk of relapse (i.e. risk of significant worsening of the psychosis) associated with marijuana and other street drugs. The more relapses a person has, the worse the prognosis for people with schizophrenia.

  Today, there are over 30 published papers linking marijuana to schizophrenia or other mental disorders. The increase in evidence could be tied to the increased potency of marijuana. A review by the British Lung Association says that the cannabis available on the streets today is 15 times more powerful than the joints being smoked three decades ago.
  

  Supporting Research (a sample):

  • The Link between Cannabis and Psychosis - Robin Murray, MD
  • If cannabis is safe, why am I psychotic? - UK Times Online
  • Cannabis mental health risks 'must be taught' - Guardian Newspaper
    
  • Review shows that cannabis use is a risk factor for schizophrenia
  • Psychosis and Marijuana - Study in Australia
  • Psychiatrists say "No" to Marijuana
  • The National Institute on Drug Abuse Adds Warning of Major Depressive Disorders (MDD’s) Experienced by Marijuana Users
  • Causal association between cannabis and psychosis: examination of the evidence. (British Journal of Psychiatry, 2004)
  • Cannabis use as a probable causative factor in the later development of schizophrenia
  • Cannabis and neurological soft signs in schizophrenia: absence of relationship and influence on psychopathology
  • Self reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts of 1969: historical cohort study
  • Cannabis and schizophrenia: impact on onset, course, psychopathology and outcomes
  • Marijuana Mental Disturbances
• LSD Psychosis
  
  
• Good Resources to help you Cope with Schizophrenia
• Tips for those with Schizophrenia
• Hallucination Control
• Pregnancy and Schizophrenia
• Information on Substance-abuse disorders



• Recognizing and Avoiding Relapse
• Recognizing Relapse (12/96)
• Preventing Relapse in Schizophrenia (7/96)



• Other resources to help you cope with schizophrenia:
• Help with SSI (8/97)
• Dealing With Stress on the Job and Elsewhere (6/97)
• Understanding and Coping with NBD (5/97)
• Rehab Program Thrives in Southern California (12/96)
• Reasons for Optimism for those with Schizophrenia (8/96)

• Resources
• How to get better medical care for people
• Dual Diagnosis - Drug/Alchol Dependency and Schizophrenia
• Dual Diagnosis - Drugs and Mental Illness [external]
• What to do if some one is mentally ill and has a chemical dependency
• Comments from Dr. Insel (head of NIH) on Substance Abuse and Mental Illness - May 2005
• Information on Substance Abuse Disorders



• Important Potential Problems to Watch For
• Tips for handling a Crisis
• Recognizing Relapse
• Schizophrenia Patient's insensitivity to pain can be life Threatening
• UPBEAT News ON DEPRESSION
• White Paper on the Americans with Disabilities Act on Web

Clubhouses

Clubhouses are local support and social centers for people with brain disorders such as schizophrenia. The Clubhouse concept originated with  the "Fountainhouse" group in New York City.  In the past decade they have been created in most major cities in North America.  We highly recommend you contact your local support group to find out if there is one in your area, and join them if there is one.  If there isn't a clubhouse in your area we recommend you contact the IDCCD for information on how you can start a local chapter. If you are already involved with a clubhouse, we encourage you to start contacting other clubhouses around the world and getting them more active on the Internet. If your clubhouse does not yet have a web page describing it, we would be happy to provide you that capability.  Email us for more information:  szwebmaster@yahoo.com.

• International Development Center for Clubhouse Development (IDCCD)
• International Clubhouse Directory

  Webpages of Clubhouses

  • Australia
    • Pioneer Clubhouse - Sydney, Australia
  • USA
    • Bridge House - Bridgeport, Connecticut (clubhouse model)
    • Laurel House - Stamford, Connecticut (clubhouse model)
    • Chesapeak, Virginia Mental Health Services (including Clubhouse)
    • Restoration Society Clubhouses - Buffalo, N.Y.
    • Clarendon House, Arlington, Virginia
    • Fairwinds Clubhouse, Falmouth, Massachusetts
  • England
    • Leatherhead Clubhouse, Leatherhead, Surrey, England
    • Old Fox Clubhouse, Stowmarket, Suffolk, U.K

Health Insurance and Schizophrenia [USA Specific]

• Proposed Law Would Stop Insurance Redeclining of Mental Illness (CHICAGO)
• The Scientific Case for Parity
• The Domenici-Wellstone Law (P.L. 104-204)

Residential Services for those with Schizophrenia

• Residential Services Listing
• Helping the Mentally Ill Find Homes

Government and Legal Resources

• U.S. Health Official Puts Schizophrenia Costs At $65 Billion
• USA
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Website
  • Social Security Online
  • U.S. Department of Justice Americans with Disabilities Act
  • U.S. House of Representatives
  • U.S. Senate
  • Police Officers Internet Directory
• Canada
  • The Canadian Health Network [English & French]
  • Canadian Mental Health Association

Homelessness/Missing Persons and the Mentally Ill [All external Links]

• NCH Fact Sheet #5 Mental Illness and Homelessness
• A Guide to Help Locate Missing Homeless and Mentally Ill - From the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
• Schizophrenia and Homelessness (Prelapse, Sept. 1995) [ext. link]

Estate Planning for those with Schizophrenia

• Estate Planning when a family member has Schizophrenia

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

• Studies and info about ECT
• Electroconvulsive Therapy
• NIMH Study on ECT
• NMHA factsheet on ECT
• Short Summary of what several books say on ECT
• Summary of Longer Article on ECT

Work and those with Schizophrenia

• Work Therapy/Schizophrenia - Research results