Patients' accounts of stress and coping in schizophrenia.

Many current approaches to the management of schizophrenia emphasize the influence of environmental stress on the course of the illness. Relatively neglected is the internal experience of schizophrenic patients as a source of stress and anxiety. The author draws on a wide range of first-person accounts by patients with schizophrenia to identify four internal sources of stress--altered perceptions, cognitive confusion, attentional deficit, and impaired identity--and to reveal the wisdom and creativity with which patients have come to terms with their illness.