Books for Prep | |
 - Read this bookIf you want some insight into the struggle that a successful individual engages in when her brain goes haywire, read this book. This is a book about courage and endurance. It is also a book that asks for another book from the author, perhaps not as interesting, about the world that surrounds the author - doctors, pharma companies, parents, hospitals, researchers, etc. and the relationships between them. Of course, this is a huge subject, greater than what one writer can tackle, but I hope that Elyn will bless us again with whatever she can enlighten us with. I gave the book a three star because many (most?) 4 and 5 star reviews are not worth reading. Rating:  - Her story of battling schizoaffective disorder is also a revealing history of recent trends in the treatment of mental illnessA brave memoir that contributes generously to our understanding of what it's like to live with hallucinations and delusions even while being academically gifted. Her journey through her illness was also a journey through the mental health treatment community and the changes in treatment protocols over the course of her life. In her case, talk therapy, especailly psychoanalysis during her difficult postgraduate years in England, helped her keep grounded in reality and fend off the intrusions of her psychosis. In more recent years, psychotropic meds made a profound difference, but she is still a strong advocate of talk therapy. She has strong views about patients' rights based on her experiences on locked wards, and understandably so. It is a difficult and imperfect realm, but ultimately the only safety net we provide when people are out of control and in the throes of their illnesses. Her story is also one of privilege. Her ethnicity, family background, and economic circumstances, along with her keen intellect, have made it more possible for her to find good treatment. Not everyone has her resources. As for the story itself, it could have used a finer editing to condense some of the psychotic episodes, which, while they may well have proliferated in her life, don't strengthen the lessons of her story. So some parts seemed a bit self-indulgent. Otherwise, though, a very moving and instructive book. Rating:  - Coming out of the ClosetMs Saks has written a very important book that demonstrates that people with schizophrenia can achieve a great deal in life with proper treatment and support. The problem is that she and others like her are in a minority. In her address to the American Psychological Association in 2007, she told the story of how a colleague at the University of Southern California had said that they would not have gone to dinner with her had they known she was schizophrenic. This is an attitude that is all too common in society not only from those not trained in medicine but from medical personnel as well. The stigma on the part of those who should know better and that I discuss in my own book Schizophrenia: Medicine's Mystery - Society's Shameis shameful. Because of that attitude, young people who may be exhibiting early signs of schizophrenia and psychosis are often ignored either out of ignorance or fear of labeling them with a stigmatizing illness. With early identification and treatment, far more people who now wind up homeless on the streets or in jails could achieve more. Ms Saks has demonstrated what is possible. Now, we must work to ensure that there are more success stories and fewer people with this terrible disease homeless, in jail, and not leading fulfilling lives. Marvin Ross, author of Schizophrenia: Medicine's Mystery - Society's Shame Rating:  - Caution!First of all, she seems like a remarkably brilliant, hardworking and resilient person with not only personal accomplishments, but also with significant contributions to the legal and mental health fields. It is great to hear success stories of people with severe difficulties. Having said that, I think that memoirs of this kind needs to be read with caution as it present subjective, anecdotal, case examples of an individual, in this case a person with exceptional abilities and resources that are desirable, but rare among the mentally ill population that are dependent on social security disability benefits and are not able to afford years of almost daily psychoanalysis. Who would disagree that it is inhumane to restrain another human being, or that it is better to respect pt's autonomy about taking medications? But these need resources, for example, patients without restraints, particularly when they are unstable as the author was, need one on one supervision to secure their safety, which means hospital staffing. Also think about all the possible lawsuits (in our society) that health care providers have to worry in case something happens to patients or staff? Think about the duration of hospital stay if pts do not take medications and the health care costs? How about the public and media that blame doctors when the patients leave hospital because of their legal rights and then kill somebody? (remember the new york commuter that was pushed down and killed in subway by a paranoid mental patient? NBC aired very skewed and biased reports on one of their news shows) I am by no means justifying these reasons, however, it is the reality affecting the quality of mental healthcare. This book presents valuable, yet only limited fragments of the mental health issues. My caution is--if this book interested you, then do not stop, but keep reading other books on mental health in order to get comprehensive understanding of the lives of the people with mental illnesses. (for example, "Crazy" by Pete Earley) I gave only 2 stars because after reading many memoirs about mental illness, I expected this one to be more intellectual and sophisticated by a prefessor, but found the writing disappointingly simple and unremarkable. Rating: - The Center Cannot Hold;: My Journey Through MadnessThis is an amazing account of an intelligent woman who will not let one of the most devastating mental illnesses, schizophrenia, beat her. Her courage and honesty are amazing. What she has achieved is beyond what "normal" people can imagine. She has done so much for those with mental illness and their families by her brave account, not just in showing how it can be managed but the failures of understanding in the medical community. In association with Amazon.com | |