[newtus]

For all books fictional - nonfiction - etc on schizophrenia.

for starters i read one today.
a sad fictional drama about true adolescent onset schizophrenia.
the plot is about a boy with schizophrenia who is caught in the middle of coffee shop robbery. its short and sweet. 117 pgs. i read it in 30 min.

its called Inside Out by Terry Trueman. Author is a psychologist i think too.
Details the boys psychiatric doctors notes.

[Wayfarer25]

The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks
an autobiographical account of her own personal struggles with schizophrenia and how it shaped her life. an easy read, and i enjoyed it.

The Day the Voices Stopped by Ken Steele & Claire Berman
another autobiographical account of Ken's schizophrenia. really a very sad story even though he pulled through in the end. also a good read.

Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Patients, and Providers by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
A very no-nonsense guide to everything you'd ever want to know about schizophrenia, from symptoms to treatments. A very good book, and written in a non-academic tone so it's easy to read. He gives a lot of first-hand accounts of symptoms from people in their own words which I found easier to identify with than clinical terms. He also gives a huge list of books about sz that are worth reading and ones to avoid at all costs. Overall a very nice resource.

[newtus]

ALL good books! thank you for your contribution!

[newtus]

When The Music Is Over: My Journey Into Schizophrenia by Ross David Burke

In this autobiographical "novel," Burke reveals his world as a paranoid schizophrenic in intimate detail. He is the third of four sons born in Australia in the 1950s, and his early family life proved uneventful. After a short employment career, his mental instability surfaced. He sank into a delusional life of drugs, sex, and rock'n'roll and proceeded to enter and leave mental hospitals over a period of years. At the end, we learn that Burke committed suicide shortly after the completion of this book in 1985. Edited by Burke's neuropsychologist and teacher, Gates, the book opens with an introduction that prepares the reader for the roller-coaster ride of emotions to come. The book ends with a very concise description of schizophrenia and its subtypes, as well as a list of references for further reading. Ultimately a book for lay readers, this is an adequate, though not necessary, addition to public and academic libraries.

very very sad.
it says he committed suicide after completing the book!

[fishsandwich]

Originally Posted by Wayfarer25

Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Patients, and Providers by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
A very no-nonsense guide to everything you'd ever want to know about schizophrenia, from symptoms to treatments. A very good book, and written in a non-academic tone so it's easy to read. He gives a lot of first-hand accounts of symptoms from people in their own words which I found easier to identify with than clinical terms. He also gives a huge list of books about sz that are worth reading and ones to avoid at all costs. Overall a very nice resource.

I actually thought this book was horrible -- it totally fails to recognize that people can (and do) fully recover from sz. (Also, it totally pushes the mainstream "TAKE YOUR DRUGS!!!1!" line, but eh -- they all do that.) I remember reading something in it about how 'somebody who was an accomplished flutist before a diagnosis of schizophrenia will probably only ever play simple tunes after the dx'. It was depressing, and the attitude seems inappropriate in a book that is supposed to be about getting yourself/your family member better.

[fishsandwich]

I really recommend the following books:

Hearing Voices: A Common Human Experience by John Watkins.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hearing-Voic.../dp/0855723904
Puts the experience of voice-hearing in a wider perspective, postulates that probably 10-25% of people hear voices at least once in their life, and discusses how voice-hearing experiences are interpreted in various cultures (including cultures where it is not considered a "disease").

Out of Her Mind: Women Writing on Madness by Rebecca Shannonhouse, ed. Pretty much what it says on the tin -- it's an edited collection of essays.

The Divided Self by R. D. Laing.
Laing was an anti-psychiatry psychiatrist in the 1960s/70s and sought alternative ways of treating psychosis. This book is his main statement about how he views schizophrenia/psychosis.

Most of the writings of psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva, especially one called Etrangers à nous-mêmes (Strangers to ourselves -- it's published in English too but I can't recall the exact English title). (I could list the motherlode of books about women, madness and psychoanalysis -- but I won't unless somebody really wants it!)




Fiction:

James Joyce's oeuvre, especially Ulysses -- because he probably was schizophrenic (and his daughter certainly was), not because he wrote on it. Avoid The Dubliners like the plague unless you can read the dialogue in a Dublin working-class accent.

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. (fiction)
It's a long read, but good writing and an interesting story about a man and his twin brother, the latter of whom has paranoid schizophrenia.

The Double, by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
A lot of Dostoevsky is hallucinatory (as far as I read it, anyway), but this one especially so.

see also: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewsky. This book royally confused me (look at the typesetting and you might see why), but it's also very hallucinatory and there is some suggestion that one or more of the characters have psychotic experiences. Lots of philosophical musings on sanity and reality, though, with a pretentious tendency to quote Pablo Neruda. This author has other books about psychosis/similar themes, but I haven't read them.

Coming through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje. Main character is in an asylum for part of the book (plus I never miss a chance to plug Ondaatje).
There is a book I have in my "to-read pile" called Eden Express (Mark Vonnegut). It's a memoir -- has anybody read it?

Can I put a film here? (Newtus, I know you like films . . . ) It's called "de Gales hus" (House of Fools) and it's based on a book about a woman's stay on a psych ward that, as far as I know, has never been published in English. Trailer here:

[newtus]

we should make a film thread too

[fishsandwich]

And how could I forget The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus?

[fishsandwich]

Originally Posted by newtus

we should make a film thread too

Definitely! You should do the honours

[fishsandwich]

Oh, also:

What is Madness? by Darien Leader. Psychoanalytic explanation of psychosis.

I'll stop now.

[newtus]

Originally Posted by fishsandwich

Oh, also:

What is Madness? by Darien Leader. Psychoanalytic explanation of psychosis.

I'll stop now.

what about that same book by Foucault?

[fishsandwich]

Originally Posted by newtus

what about that same book by Foucault?

You mean Folie et déraison? (Don't know what it's called in English.)

[newtus]

Madness: An Invention Of An Idea

its psychoanalysis of psychosis - and depression too. with a case study.

"In this book, Foucault offers a solution for the way that psychology should "diagnose" - and produce theory for "mental illness". He also analyzes the notion of mental illness and the medical discourse that makes possible to use such incorrect or paradoxical notions"

[costello]

Gail Hornstein has been compiling a list of personal accounts of madness for years, many of them written by the survivors: http://www.gailhornstein.com/files/B...th_edition.pdf

I have a few of these books. It would be interesting to read the whole list.

I read "The Quiet Room" by Lori Schiller http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Quiet-Ro...ref=pd_sim_b_3 which was a really easy read about a woman with schizophrenia who's in and out of hospital but ultimately recovers. It's written in chapters by her, her family and doctor, including extracts from her notes.

I also enjoyed 'From the Edge of the Couch' by Dr Raj Persaud http://www.amazon.co.uk/From-Edge-Co...5929522&sr=8-1 It's written by a psychiatrist and he talks about where typical delusions come from historically and culturally. I've only read about 1/3 of it, but I found it really interesting and do intend to finish it one day.

Are 'Hearing Voices: A common human experience', 'Divided Self', and 'Madness: The Invention of an Idea' easy to read? They sound really good but unless they're easy to read I'm probably never going to finish them and they would be a waste of money. Unfortunately I seem to have lost the ability to read that I once had

*Willow*

[fishsandwich]

Originally Posted by WeepingWillow23

Are 'Hearing Voices: A common human experience', 'Divided Self', and 'Madness: The Invention of an Idea' easy to read? They sound really good but unless they're easy to read I'm probably never going to finish them and they would be a waste of money. Unfortunately I seem to have lost the ability to read that I once had

*Willow*

Kinda, no, and IDK/never read it but it's Foucault so it's going to be loopy and tough.
I recommend trying to slog through 'Hearing Voices', but if you're not up for a tough read then reading about Laing is probably just as good as reading his actual writing.

Thanks fish. I thought Foucault's stuff might be quite wordy but I've never actually read any of it. I might try the other 2 though. I keep trying to push through with my reading but am not overly successful, unfortunately...

*Willow*

[fishsandwich]

Not only is Foucault wordy, he's in translation from French--where we like to have dozens of clauses in each sentence. Seriously. In his "Madness and civilisation book" there are lots of pages where the entire page is only two or three sentences and that's perfectly correct and normal.

ETA: I had an English teacher tell me once that there is never reason to have more than two clauses in an English sentence. BUT IT'S SO HARD.

[newtus]

Madness Invention of an Idea is EASY to read. Madness and Civilization is not that easy. Thats the whole reason why i read Madness Invention of an Idea. I read the whole thing because its short and easy to read. he keeps that one in laymans terms. Invention of an Idea is only under 150 pages. Madness and Civilization is NOT. its around 320 pages. they are two different books by the same author. Civilization covers the history of madness - Invention of an idea goes into the psychoanalysis of psychoanalysis of psychosis (if you got that) and includes a (old) case study of a woman with psychosis and depression and breaks down her thinking and her psychosis.

I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb ...