Women and Psychosis: A Guide for Women and Their Families

This guide is for women who are recovering from a psychotic episode. The information will also be useful for their families.

Psychotic illness affects women and men in different ways. In women, schizophrenia—the most common form of psychotic illness — usually starts later in life and progresses at a different pace. This means that treatment for women needs to be specific to women. There are differences in treatment outcomes between men and women. However, textbooks usually talk about psychosis, its treatment and its outcome as if these gender differences didn’t matter. This guide speaks to the specific issues women and their families face during recovery from psychosis.

Authors

Pamela Blake, MSW, RSW
April A. Collins, MSW, RSW
Mary V. Seeman, MD

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge helpful comments from:

Dr. Robert Zipursky,
Clinical Director, Schizophrenia and Continuing Care, CAMH.

We owe special thanks to the many clients, their families and the staff of the following programs and organizations who reviewed an earlier version of this information guide or assisted with the review process:

Can-Voice, London, Ontario
Family Advisory Group,
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario
Schizophrenia and Continuing Care Program,
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario
Skills training Treatment and Education Place (STEP),
Whitby Mental Health Centre, Whitby, Ontario
Best Practices Services,
Whitby Mental Health Centre, Whitby, Ontario
Canadian Mental Health Association,
Cornwall, Ontario
Community Programs, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health,
London, Toronto, Oshawa and Cornwall, Ontario

Women and Psychosis: A Guide for Women and Their Families

Women and Psychosis: A Guide for Women and Their Families

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