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A much-praised memoir of living and surviving mental illness as well as "a stereotype-shattering look at a tenacious woman whose brain is her best friend and her worst enemy" (Time).
Elyn R. Saks is an esteemed professor, lawyer, and psychiatrist and is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, Psychiatry, and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Law School, yet she has suffered from schizophrenia for most of her life, and still has ongoing major episodes of the illness.
The Center Cannot Hold is the eloquent, moving story of Elyn's life, from the first time that she heard voices speaking to her as a young teenager, to attempted suicides in college, through learning to live on her own as an adult in an often terrifying world. Saks discusses frankly the paranoia, the inability to tell imaginary fears from real ones, the voices in her head telling her to kill herself (and to harm others), as well as the incredibly difficult obstacles she overcame to become a highly respected professional. This beautifully written memoir is destined to become a classic in its genre.
A much-praised memoir of living and surviving mental illness as well as "a stereotype-shattering look at a tenacious woman whose brain is her best friend and her worst enemy" (Time).
Elyn R. Saks is an esteemed professor, lawyer, and psychiatrist and is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, Psychiatry, and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Law School, yet she has suffered from schizophrenia for most of her life, and still has ongoing major episodes of the illness.
The Center Cannot Hold is the eloquent, moving story of Elyn's life, from the first time that she heard voices speaking to her as a young teenager, to attempted suicides in college, through learning to live on her own as an adult in an often terrifying world. Saks discusses frankly the paranoia, the inability to tell imaginary fears from real ones, the voices in her head telling her to kill herself (and to harm others), as well as the incredibly difficult obstacles she overcame to become a highly respected professional. This beautifully written memoir is destined to become a classic in its genre.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
About the Author-
Elyn R. Saks is a professor at the University of Southern California Law School and the University of California, and Research Clinical Associate at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. She graduated from Oxford as a Marshall Scholar and received her J.D. from Yale Law School. She has published three books and more than two-dozen articles, and serves on the board of several mental health foundations. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Will Vinet.
Reviews-
Starred review from May 14, 2007 I n this engrossing memoir, Saks, a professor of psychiatry at U.C.–San Diego, demonstrates a novelist's skill of creating character, dialogue and suspense. From her extraordinary perspective as both expert and sufferer (diagnosis: “Chronic paranoid schizophrenia with acute exacerbation”; prognosis: “Grave”), Saks carries the reader from the early “little quirks” to the full blown “falling apart, flying apart, exploding” psychosis. “Schizophrenia rolls in like a slow fog,” as Saks shows, “becoming imperceptibly thicker as time goes on.” Along the way to stability (treatment, not cure), Saks is treated with a pharmacopeia of drugs and by a chorus of therapists. In her jargon-free style, she describes the workings of the drugs (“getting med-free,” a constant motif) and the ideas of the therapists and physicians (psychologist, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, cardiologist, endocrinologist). Her personal experience of a world in which she is both frightened and frightening is graphically drawn and leads directly to her advocacy of mental patients' civil rights as they confront compulsory medication, civil commitment, the abuse of restraints and “the absurdities of the mental care system.” She is a strong proponent of talk therapy (”While medication had kept me alive, it had been psychoanalysis that helped me find a life worth living”). This is heavy reading, but Saks's account will certainly stand out in its field.
June 1, 2007 Schizophrenia reportedly affects one out of every 100 people, and the future of its victims tends to be bleak. In this engaging memoir, Saks (psychiatry, Univ. of California, San Diego; "Refusing Care: Forced Treatment and the Rights of the Mentally Ill") reveals how she beat the odds in a spectacular way. Organized in a traditional fashion, her book cites childhood foreshadowings of her disease but focuses on life after her condition became fully apparent while attending Oxford University as a Marshall scholar. Over time, she bounced between stunning accomplishments in academia and painful relapses into mental illness. Her journey illuminates critical dilemmas faced by the mentally ill, such as the ramifications of refusing treatment and medication, dealing with social stigma, and finding competent and humane psychiatric care. Except for anecdotal references to family dynamics, issues of causation are not explored. Saks's narrative is dramatic, detailed, honest, and extremely readable. The message is inspiring and hopeful, but schizophrenics without her considerable economic and educational resources are unlikely to thrive so well. Strongly recommended for public libraries and consumer mental health collections.Antoinette Brinkman, MLS, Evansville, IN
Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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