Social Function in Psychiatry: The Hidden Axis of Classification Exposed - Hardcover

9781871816235: Social Function in Psychiatry: The Hidden Axis of Classification Exposed

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1871816238 ISBN 13: 9781871816235

Publisher: Wrightson Biomedical Publishing Ltd, 1993

In broad terms social function describes how individuals associate and interact both with society at large and in their own personal environment. Increasingly health professionals are recognizing that social recovery is at least as important as symptomatic recovery and very often it is disturbance of social function that prompts referral from primary care to the psychiatric services. But how should the boundaries of "normal" social function be set and what should be included in its assessment? Should it include performance in relationship to the rest of society, does it measure how well people are adapted to their roles, does it record the nature of friendships and other social contacts, or is it just a measure of how satisfied people are with their place in the scheme of things. This book is the first to explore this important topic in full. The authors attempt to tie the subject down and emphasize the reasons why it must be studied and recorded in psychiatric practice.

The chapters in the first part of the book deal with general issues such as the definition and measurement of social function and its importance in relation to specific psychiatric disorders including personality disorder, mental impairment, child and adult psychiatric diseases. The book closes with a discussion of the relationship between quality of life and social function, and with the editors' view of the role of the social function in future clinical practice. It also compares the various questionnaires and interview schedules, and provides practical guidelines for the selection of instruments.

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