Remarkable lives: Robert Lawrence in conversation with Jerome Carson
| Date | 06 December 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-11-2019-0036 |
| Pages | 75-79 |
| Published date | 06 December 2019 |
| Author | Robert Lawrence,Jerome Carson |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
Remarkable lives: Robert Lawrence in
conversation with Jerome Carson
Robert Lawrence and Jerome Carson
Abstract
Purpose –The purposeof the paper is to provide a profile of Robert Lawrence.
Design/methodology/approach –Robert provides a short background to his life and is then
interviewedby Jerome.
Findings –Robert talks about the slow onset of his condition, his hospital admission and subsequent
long journeyof recovery.
Research limitations/implications –Case studies are of courseonly one person’s story. The world of
someone experiencing psychosis is so different that we can only really understand it fully through the
accountsof sufferers like Robert.
Practical implications –Robert makes a number of points about how services could be improved,
such as through quicker and better treatment and a commitment to promote positive mental
health.
Social implications –Robert talks about ‘‘benefits you can live off.’’ He notes that some
governments have not fully appreciated the reality of mental suffering and its effects on trying to live
a ‘‘normal’’ life.
Originality/value –Robert’s story has seen him embark on a long journey. He has now managed to
study fora qualification which will hopefullybring him employment as a counsellor.
Keywords Medication, Counselling, Education, Recovery, Schizophrenia
Paper type Case study
Introduction
I remember meeting Robert when he started on the first year of our Psychology,
Psychotherapy and Counselling degree. I think I taught him in each year. He then
decided to do a Master’s degree in Counselling and Positive Psychology, and I taught
him on this as well. He asked if I would be his research supervisor for his MSc thesis? It
was during one of his supervision sessions that he told me that he had been diagnosed
with schizophrenia. “Didn’t you know? Couldn’t you tell?” No. I had no idea.
“Schizophrenia” is such a loaded word that even the Schizophrenia Commission said that
clinicians had to be very careful in giving some people a schizophrenia diagnosis
(Schizophrenia Commission, 2012). Apart from Professor John Nash, the subject of the
film A Beautiful Mind, perhaps the next most famous person with the condition, Professor
Elyn Saks, said in her Ted talk that she wished she never had the condition (Saks, 2007).
Yet unlike so many people with this diagnosis she has done exceptionally well in life.
However in a co-authored paper looking at occupationally high achieving individuals with
a diagnosis of schizophrenia, it is not surprising that their sample size was only 20, even
though their study was a qualitative one (Cohen et al., 2017). Peter Chadwick once said
to me that he thought that only eight per cent of people given such a diagnosis had a
positive outcome (Chadwick, 2008). Robert’ story is therefore one to admire all the more.
Let him tell it in his own words [...].
Robert Lawrence and
Jerome Carson are both
based at the Department of
Psychology, University of
Bolton, Bolton, UK.
DOI 10.1108/MHSI-11-2019-0036 VOL. 24 NO. 2 , pp. 75-79, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 jMENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION jPAGE 75
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