ABSTRACT
Working is central to the life of most healthy adults. It affects where
they live, who their friends are and how they feel about themselves.
Many regard their careers as expressions of their identity and part of
their purpose in life. Schizophrenia is a disabling mental condition that
usually disrupts a person’s working life and, because it is a disorder with
an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, it often interferes with the
normal development of a career and worker identity. As people with
schizophrenia attempt to adjust to their new reality of medications,
painful refractory symptoms and profound uncertainty about their
future, their efforts at recovery may be hampered by a lack of appropri-
ate opportunity for productive activity. Since schizophrenia may attack
a person’s motivation and sense of purpose, as well as cause positive
symptoms like paranoia and hallucinations, a person with this disorder
may become discouraged about ever finding a place in the world of
work.
