Rehabilitation of the psychiatric patient

Abstract

Rehabilitation is the process of identifying and preventing or minimizing the multiple causes of severe disablement while at the same time helping the individual to develop and use his or her talents and thus to acquire confidence and self-esteem through success in social roles ...... Rehabilitation, therefore, necessitates a long-term commitment to the individual patient. (Royal College of Psychiatrists 1980).It is the management of the long-term mentally ill and most commonly this concerns the chornic schizophrenic. It should aim at maximising the functional capacities of patients and not merely to remove symptoms. In addition it has to do with tertiary prevention i.e. the reduction of chronic disability as a consequence of a psychiatric illness and therefore to contribute to the resocialization of patients.