Beyond Schizophrenia: Living and Working with a Serious Mental Illness

by Marjorie L. Baldwin

The experience of living and working with schizophrenia is often fraught with challenges and setbacks. This book is a comprehensive attempt to explain why, in spite of near-miraculous advances in medication and treatment, persons with mental illness fare worse than almost any other disadvantaged group in the labor market. As a researcher of economics and disability and the mother of a son with schizophrenia, the author speaks from both professional and personal experience. First, she looks at societal factors that affect employment outcomes for persons with schizophrenia (or other serious mental illness), including stigma and discrimination, investments in human capital, the quality of mental health services, and the support of family and friends. Then she examines workplace factors that affect employment outcomes, including employer mandates in the Americans with Disabilities Act, the decision to disclose a diagnosis of mental illness at work, the interaction between job demands and functional limitations, and job accommodations for persons with a serious mental illness. Giving weight to both perspectives, the final chapter outlines a set of policy recommendations designed to improve employment outcomes for this population.--Fred Frese, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Northeast Ohio Medical University "Metapsychology Online"

Genres: Nonfiction

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2016

Reviews

[Chelsea Kowal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, Beyond Schizophrenia by Marjorie Baldwin, is the 5th book I've read this year (2025).

The book reads part memoir, part text book, as it explains various aspects of employment and education for people with SMI (severe mental illness), particularly people with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

The majority of the book was spent discussing data and experiments on different parts of employment, especially the economics of employing people with SMI.

Some of the major takeaways I found from this book is how important it is to match the job to the person and that education is good insurance for people with SMI. I found the ladder to be true in my own life, as I graduated with my Masters degree despite having SMI and being hospitalized over 25 times.

Overall, I think that the book is hopeful but our society still has a lot of work ahead of us in terms of employment and education of people with SMI.

I am giving this book 4 stars... not the best I've read, but I definitely learned a lot.

[Jane De vries · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a lot of useful information. I would not want to wish this on any parent. However. the young man in question had unusual support and resources from his parents which helped in his road to recovery.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed the hardback edition of this book. Mostly read the personal story. SMI (serious mental illness) is a massive problem with a huge toll on sufferers and their families/caregivers. Fortunately for the author, money does not seem to have been a problem; by itself it does not solve the problems, but it does make getting the best help much more likely.

I agree that accommodations should be made to help people work at good jobs, just as accommodations should be made for those with physical disabilities. But others' needs must be considered as well. I have been exposed to so much (undiagnosed) SMI from my family of origin that my ability to tolerate being around a person who is mentally ill but untreated is now pretty much shot.

Happily, this book is a hopeful book - see passage below, which surprised me:

[David is completely off his meds again]: "Still, part of me waited, and watched, for the relapse that I thought was sure to come.

It never did.

To this day, more than five years after he stopped taking his meds, David has been virtually symptom-free. I do not pretend to understand how his mind was healed, but David has no doubts. The hand of God laid out a divine plan, through the hospitals and jail, to the woman in the psychiatrist's office, to...the Dream Center. When God was ready, it was time to let go of the medications; David let go and let God.

There are others with schizophrenia who, like David, have successfully weaned themselves off antipsychotic drugs. In 2012, an article...asked...'Do all schizophrenia patients need antipsychotic treatment throughout their lifetime?' The authors followed seventy patients with schizophrenia, for up to twenty years after being hospitalized with acute psychosis. Beginning with the two-year follow-up, 34 percent of patients were taking antipsychotic medications continuously, 21 percent were not taking medications at all. Those who were not taking medications were a self-selected group, with better prognostic factors at the index hospitalization than the group that was still on antipsychotics. At the twenty-year follow-up, the group not taking medications exhibited a significantly higher rate of recovery than the group that was still on antipsychotic drugs.

I am not advocating that persons with SMI stop taking their medications. Many persons with mental illness who are working in competitive jobs have told us that they could not function without their meds. But in response to the question posed in the article, the answer is no. Not all patients with schizophrenia need to be on antipsychotics for the remainder of their lives."

[The Book Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trying to better understand my birth mothers condition. This book is a must have for anyone trying to understand Schizophrenia. Review to come.

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good on the state of mental health in this country.it was told through story of the Authors son David .great story about living the life of a mother and son