ABSTRACT
These cases are from a large collection made by Fiona Macmillan and Eve Johnstone which are reported in Fiona Macmillan’s MD thesis (Macmillan, 1984) and are reproduced by kind permission of the author. As these cases illustrate, schizophrenia is a devastating disorder that can occur out of the blue; it wrecks promising careers; it destroys personal relationships; it ruins lives. In a survey of over 500 patients previously diagnosed schizophrenic in Harrow, a relatively affluent area on the edge of London, it was found that less than 20% were in full time work and that more than 30% had attempted to kill themselves at least once (Johnstone et al., 1991). Gunderson and Mosher (1975) have estimated that the cost of schizophrenia, in terms of treatment, care, and skills lost to the community, is at least 2% of the gross national product, i.e. about £2-3 billion per year.
