Product Description
A User's Guide to Capitalism and Schizophrenia is a playful and emphatically practical elaboration of the major collaborative work of the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. When read along with its rigorous textual notes, the book also becomes the richest scholarly treatment of Deleuze's entire philosophical oeuvre available in any language. Finally, the dozens of explicit examples that Brian Massumi furnishes from contemporary artistic, scientific, and popular urban culture make the book an important, perhaps even central text within current debates on postmodern culture and politics.Capitalism and Schizophrenia is the general title for two books published a decade apart. The first, Anti-Oedipus, was a reaction to the events of May/June 1968; it is a critique of "state-happy" Marxism and "school-building" strains of psychoanalysis. The second, A Thousand Plateaus, is an attempt at a positive statement of the sort of nomad philosophy Deleuze and Guattari propose as an alternative to state philosophy.Brian Massumi is Professor of Comparative Literature at McGill University. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Necessary Companion to Capitalism and Schizophrenia
Massumi saunters purposefully through the landscape created by Deleuze and Guattari while simultaneously staying true to the two authors' signature style.If you have read ANTI-OEDIPUS and/or A THOUSAND PLATEAUS, this book is an excellent supplement.Massumi seems to target young scholars or readers who are struggling with Deleuze and Guattari's vocabulary and concepts.Advanced scholars will probably not find anything new or extremely helpful in this book, but students will find it extremely helpful.

read this book
Still the best book on Deleuze and Guattari out there. Extremely creative on its own right, but also great for situating Deleuze and Guattari in relation to other currents in intellectual thought (like psychoanalysis, marxism). And it provides a helpful jumping-off point for thinking aspects of Deleuze's thought that often go unmentioned in introductory works on D+G. (I would say "other" introductory works, but calling this work introductory would be wrong.) Highly recommended.

Great book, but not about Deleuze and Guattari
Massumi's user's guide is a wonderful little book, but unfortunately is not a book about Deleuze and Guattari.At the outset, one initially thinks that Massumi will be giving a close reading of _A Thousand Plateaus_, but quickly finds that the text is a patchwork pieced together out of Deleuze'svarious writings. For instance, the first part of Massumi's book, entitled"Force" discusses D&G in the context of the Plateau in ATPentitled the "Geology of Morals", but greatly broadens thisdiscussion by interpreting D&G's appropriation of Hjelmslev's semioticsin the context of the reading of force Deleuze gives in _Nietzsche andPhilosophy_.Now, not only does Massumi severely simply D&G'sappropriation of Hjelmslev, but he does the same with Deleuze's account offorce in Nietzsche.Moreover, in Deleuze's own independent philosophicalworks and in the context of his work with Guattari, Deleuze never makes useof the concept of force.Now, in and of itself this is not a bad thing andMassumi ends up producing a very useful model of analysis, but it'squestionable as to whether such a reading really helps the reader penetratewhat D&G are up to in ATP.

It seems to me that this sort ofstrategy is symptomatic of a lot of works on both Deleuze and Deleuze'swork with Guattari.No one would deny that the works with Guattari andDeleuze's works "written in his own name" are exceedinglydifficult and require a lot of work to unlock, and that as a rule hiswritings in the history of philosophy are remarkably clear.As a result,there seems to be a refusal to read the independent works on their ownterms and a tendency to attempt to reduce them to the historical writings. While I would be the last to claim that the histories are to be ignored, itis nonetheless the case that the use of them ought to center arounddemonstrating how they converge with the independent works, how Deleuzerethinks their problematics, and where Deleuze diverges from them.

Itis also likely that much of this textual practice comes from the latentimperative in Deleuze's philosophy to create.This has to do withDeleuze's textual strategy of "getting behind the author and creatinga monsterous offspring."As a result, those that write on Deleuzesimultaneously experience the necessity of merely doing commentary on whathe said in order to show how it belongs to a philosophical tradition andproblematic, while nonetheless being forced to remain silent on what hesaid.What seems to be forgotten are Deleuze's words immediately followinghis pronouncement of getting behind the author, where he claims that theonly rule is that the author himself must be shown to have said it. Moreover, much of the "creating" that goes on in the name ofDeleuze and Guattari comes to look like an arbitrary activity based on thewill of the author, rather than an expression of the impersonal andnecessary that D&G were always quick to emphasize.In other words,sometimes the greatest usefulness in writing about a text consists ingetting clear on what that text actually says in its own terms.

Massumi'sbook can be highly illuminating and is a great and exciting read, but isnot necessarily the best source for coming to understand Deleuze andGuattari's difficult texts. One would do much better to first readsomething like Eugine Holland's book if their seeking to get an accuratepicture of what's going on in Deleuze and Guattari.

A postmodern self-help manual
Ten minutes out of the box and I had made my very own desiring machine

a practical survival manual
Finally!...a user's guide to Deleuze and Guattari's opus magnum. The rough guide to the skull-splitting mazes of AntiOedipus. Step by step instructions! Maps! Illustrations! The works! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

If there, where was I?
This book is far too technical to have fugue-ing in the index. It doesn't even have confabulation. Sullivan's book, The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry (I gave my copy to my son last year, so I'm not seeing it now) might be a better source for functional definitions of the terms that I should be thinking about when I run my thinking into America's experience in Nam. I was hoping that, looking at descriptions of schizophrenia, I could find some technical description of aggravation, like: try grabbing a machine gun and shooting it straight up in the air ~ it works the same way.

Due to a 150 day drop when I ended my tour as a draftee in Nam, I only served 19 months in the U.S. Army. SCHIZOPHRENIA AS A HUMAN PROCESS by Harry Stack Sullivan contains a paper, "Psychiatric Training as a Prerequisite to Psychoanalytic Practice" originally reprinted from Amer. J. Psychiatry (1934-35), in which Stack attempted to convince the American Psychiatric Association to require psychiatric training in a mental hospital to contribute to "the professional competence of the psychoanalyst." (p. 309). In order to learn anything, "I personally favor heartily the requirement that the young physician make many written statements as to his view of this and that. Suave, quick-minded people often conceal in their spoken comments misapprehensions that they entertain. Once their views are recorded, deficiencies in their formulations are readily pointed out. Intensive criticism . . . coupled with some clinical demonstrations of how things really are done and of what has significance in the relationship of a competent psychiatrist and his patient, would vastly abbreviate the staggering amount of time it takes the average intern to find a clue to the nature of psychiatric therapy. I have said often that it takes 18 months residence . . . Moreover, adequate supervision would remedy immediately one grave development that now involves many young physicians who enter the psychiatric field. I refer to the damnable business of learning how to `get away with it' without really knowing what is going on, or caring." (pp. 317-8).

... Read more

Product Description
Despite everything that has been written about the brain, a very important part of this vital organ has been overlooked in most books -- until now. The Other Brain is the story of glia, which make up approximately 85 percent of the cells in the brain. Long neglected as little more than cerebral packing material ("glia" means glue), glia are sparking a revolution in brain science.

Glia are completely different from neurons, the brain cells that we are familiar with. Scientists are discovering that glia have their own communication network, which operates in parallel to the more familiar communication among neurons. Glia provide the insulation for the neurons, and glia even regulate the flow of information between neurons.

But it is the potential breakthroughs for medical science that are the most exciting frontier in glia research today. Diseases such as brain cancer and multiple sclerosis are caused by diseased glia. Glia are now believed to play an important role in such psychiatric illnesses as schizophrenia and depression, and in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. They are linked to infectious diseases such as HIV and prion disease (mad cow disease, for example) and to chronic pain. Scientists have discovered that glia repair the brain and spinal cord after injury and stroke. The more we learn about these cells that make up the "other" brain, the more important they seem to be.

Written by a neuroscientist who is a leader in the research to reveal the secrets of these brain cells, The Other Brain offers a firsthand account of science in action. It takes us into the laboratories where important discoveries are being made, and it explains how scientists are learning that glial cells come in different types, with different capabilities. It tells the story of glia research from its origins to the most recent discoveries and gives readers a much more complete understanding of how the brain works and where the next breakthroughs in brain science and medicine are likely to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

The Other Brain: From Dementia to Schizophrenia, How New Discoveries about the Brain Are Revolutionizing Medicine and Science
I found The Other Brain a fascinating read. The book is amazingly interesting and easy for a layperson to read. It poses insightful questions about why particular events or symptoms are occurring and then uses the chapter to explain. It provides interesting surprises about how the brain works, how glia influences neuro-degenerative disorders, and how research is investigating new treatment options based on the impacts of the glia cells. For anyone who has been impacted by any of these diseases or who family has been impacted, the book will enlighten you on the latest understandings and research.

Joe Maranzano

Amazingly comprehendible read!
I picked up this book for two reasons, 1. I've always been interested in the subject of neuroscience vs neural plasticity and 2. 'The Other Brain' was featured in Seed Magazine and reviewed as an intriguing read for the general audience.
I was amazed how well the book was written and how comprehendible the context was. My professional background is in fashion design, which as far as you can get form neuroscience. The book enlightened my understanding of brain functions as well as the level of advancement in the field.
Glad to have read this book and await more form the author!

Wow, fascinating book!
If you're remotely curious about the brain, click and buy.

Very readable page turner.

The Other Brain... Great book!
The book arrived in a timely manner and in great condition. It's a wonderful book that I would recommend to all those interested in the brain.

Fascinating
Absolutely fascinating book. Easy to read and understand. I highly suggest this for anyone even remotely interested in the brain and how it works... ... Read more

Product Description
The schizophrenic patient presented to the public in sensational press reports and lurid films bears little resemblance to reality of the illness. This book describes what schizophrenia is really like, how the illness progresses, and the treatments that have been applied. It also summarizes the most up-to-date knowledge available about the biological bases of this disorder. Finally it attempts to give some idea of what it is like to have schizophrenia and what this disorder tells us about the relationship between mind and brain. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good general overview of schizophrenia
I am a layman and read this book because I wanted to get a general overview of schizophrenia. It is the first book I read about schizophrenia (although I am familiar with DSM-IV) so I cannot compare it to other works specifically devoted to the subject.All I can say is that it met my needs very well.

Both authors appear to have strong academic credentials as well as extensive clinical experience with schizophrenia.(Christopher Frith is Professor of Neuropsychology at University College London and author of _The Cognitive Neuropsychology of Schizophrenia_ (1992).Eve C. Johnstone is Professor and Head of the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh and author of _Schizophrenia: Concepts and Clinical Management_ (1999).)They look at schizophrenia both as a disease that afflicts individuals and as a public health issue, and cover the symptoms, causes and treatment of the illness.

They discuss how the definition of the disease has evolved over time and continues to evolve as the priorities of the various symptoms change and the disease becomes better understood.They discuss both positive symptoms like delusions, hallucinations and disordered thought and negative symptoms like affective flattening and avolition.They pay special attention to auditory hallucinations ("voices") and delusions of control (imagined external control of body movements) and offer explanations of them based on improper working of feedback loops within the brain.They review different theories of the causes of schizophrenia and seem to give much more credence to physical (neurological) explanations (including heredity and circumstances of gestation and birth) than to psychogenic (purely "mental") ones (dysfunctional parents, double bind, etc.). Similarly they review different approaches to treatment and see much more significant results from antipsychotic drugs than from psychotherapy.In terms of the care of schizophrenia sufferers, they believe that the outcome for schizophrenia is generally poor (meaning that people who develop it generally do not fully recover from it), and I think they believe that suffers are generally better taken care of in institutional than in community settings. They claim that the common notion that schizophrenics have a strong propensity to violence is empirically not true but still recognize that there is a greater than average risk.I assume that their views are, over all, fairly standard, though probably not universal, within the medical and healthcare communities.

I would say that the attitude of the authors towards the disease is not purely academic/clinical/managerial and but includes an element of genuine compassion for the sufferers as well as their families and care givers.I think the main hope that they hold out is that the neurological mechanisms underlying the disease will in time become well understood and that preventive and curative approaches based on those mechanisms will be developed.

The contents of the book are:

1. The experience of schizophrenia
2. The concept of schizophrenia
3. Intellectual functioning of schizophrenia
4. Schizophrenia and drugs
5. Biological factors
6. Environment factors
7. Understanding the symptoms of schizophrenia
8. The importance of Schizophrenia
References
Further reading
Index

References are essentially endnotes.There are no footnotes in the book. ... Read more

Product Description
The author of the classic Surviving Schizophrenia and his colleagues present an important contribution to the ongoing debate on the origins of mental illness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Is "mental" illness nurture or nature: Finally answered
Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are relatively rare. About 5% of population. So finding people to participate in research is difficult. Finding twins? Almost impossible.

This is the kind of study only these authors could do: find twins, where one is mentally ill and the other is not. Due to their stature in science they were able to do it. They wanted to explore if schizophrenia and manic depression are the result of genes, or is it acquired elsewhere.

This book, written in language for the non-scientific oriented answers these questions in depth. I won't tell you what they found, but the answer will surprise you and enlighten you and maybe even inspire you to support more research into serious mental illness.

BTW, this book will be of special extra interest to individuals with mental illness who are considering having children, because it gives perhaps the best genetic counseling you could ever get. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Rushdoony is the real Morpheus
The above review by Kurt was wonderful.

Ludwig Wittgenstein once said, "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."Rushdoony read a book a day for 50 years.He is my favorite author after reading his, "The word of flux" and now this one.He will show you the Matrix.

Schizophrenia simply means narrow mindedness and because of Solipsism we may be cursed with schizophrenia if we know it or not.All thought is in the Cogito and this cogito is one mind only = narrow mindedness.

Here is a paragraph which discusses this book.I highly recommended reading Rushdoony as the limits of your world may branch out infinitum.

-

"There is no law, no society, no justice, no structure, no design, no meaning apart from God."

As the title implies, Intellectual Schizophrenia: the author identifies the basic contradiction that pervades a secular society that rejects God's sovereignty but still needs law and order, justice, science, and meaning to life. Secular man wants to use the things of creation while denying their Creator. So modern man becomes schizophrenic. He wants to assert his autonomy while rejecting the divine order that gives meaning to life. It is therefore no accident that modern schools have become such dangerous places, intellectually, morally, physically, and psychologically. They embrace the intellectual schizophrenia of man in total rebellion against God.

Wonderfully enlightening
Rousas John Rushdoony (1916-2001) was a Christian pastor, theologian, and philosopher, and the founder of the Chalcedon Foundation. In 1961, he published this prophetic book. In it, Rev. Rushdoony argues that the modern humanist system is ultra-statist cosmopolitan in that it aspires to create man whose home is the one-world, and as such is by nature hostile to home, community and church. The state-run school then must subscribe to a "blank-slate" view of children, who require conditioning to break them of any backward looking, localist attachments. However, human beings never are blank slates, and as such the educational establishment creates a form of intellectual schizophrenia among its students.

And what is the end result of the modern, public, humanistic educational project? "A culture not convinced of its own value is incapable of its own defense. Its energy is replaced by apathy, and its convictions by the torments of self-analysis." Does this not sound like the modern American war on terrorism?

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating book. When it was written it was forward looking to the point of being prophetic. Now, more than 40 years later, this book is a clear and cogent explanation of the development of the modern world, of how we got from World War II to the War on Terror. I found this book wonderfully enlightening, and I give it my highest recommendations! ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a study of schizophrenia in a modern psychiatric hospital.Its purpose is to develop a contextual understanding of schizophrenia by studying the clinical setting in which this disorder is experienced, diagnosed and treated, and it arises from an anthropological investigation of the day-to-day work of clinical staff. The author offers a penetrating analysis of the language used by hospital staff as they write and talk about their patients, and traces the evolution of the concept of schizophrenia, showing how contemporary theoretical constructs are applied by clinical staff. In its analysis of the schizophrenia team and of those experiencing the disorder, this book will reveal to mental health professionals many of the unspoken assumptions of their role.It will also confirm to social scientists and clinicians the power of the ethnographic approach in psychiatric research. ... Read more

Product Description
Sorting out fact from fiction and myth from reality in schizophrenia is no easy task. In this book, one of the world's leading experts presents an absorbing account of what is actually known about the subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Diathesis Stressor Model for Schizophrenia
In this book, the author proposes the diathesis-stressor model of schizophrenia inheritability. This means that certain genes are activated by an environmental stressor such as drugs or trauma.He negates the environmental model for schizophrenia as well as the strictly Mendelian model.People who have close relatives with schizophrenia are more likely to pass down the genetic markers for this illness.

Citing adoption studies, he notes that children of schizophrenics who are adopted by non-schizophrenic parents have a higher likelihood of developing the disease than the general population.Concomitantly, children of parents who do not have schizophrenia, when adopted by parents with schizophrenia, have no more likelihood of developing the illness than the general population.

He looks at the properties of certain drugs that have a propensity to bring about schizophrenia and notes that they all have dopamine stimulating properties.

This is a very good book for anyone interested in schizophrenia.It can be somewhat technical so a background in psychology, social work, psychiatry or neuroscience is helpful.However, it is still accessible to anyone who has a specific interest in this illness.Another good book that is less technical is E. Fuller Torey's book, Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Patients, and Providers.

Well written and comprehensive
The overwhelming stress that a family experiences as a result of the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder is beyond words.One thing that can help is to learn as much about the disease as possible.Although a cure for schizophrenia has yet to be found, Gottesman has successfully outlined thisdisease in an understandable and informative book. It has provided mewith a much better understnding of a disease with an incredible socialstigma. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

clinical behavior studied for what anyone knew about schizophrenia
I tend to think of people freaking out as a cultural response to the lack of wealth and status that will become more common as Americans run out of money and lose their homes. The Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane is not likely to solve our problems after it has closed and the files were studied for how particular cases were treated during the twentieth century. I lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when I was in high school, and had greetings from the draft board in Michigan a few years later, but I have been avoiding the people who exhibit the kind of social activities I consider pathological as much as possible. Trying to say anything about the profound imposters who have set up tremendous repudiations that make a significant number of Americans seek treatment for mental illness is becoming as tricky as the condemnation of witchcraft was for a jurist who studied enough about wichcraft to practice it himself and turned himself in as a witch. American society is not particularly nice. Some fights become official matters which create hostile attitudes that makes any form of authority suspect. Then when DSM-II 295.3 Schizophrenia, Paranoid Type says, "Excessive religiosity is sometimes seen" (p. 96), it might be because so many religions get used to being persecuted. David Koresh was worried that April 19, 1993, was in the cards according to the book of seven seals in Revelation, but he did not want to be evaluated by anyone who was checking how rational he was.

America is Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. I was even in Vietnam when my commanding officer asked, "Why didn't you shoot him?" That attitude was part of the training. ... Read more

Product Description
Margaret Hawkins spent her girlhood dazzled by her vivacious, high-achieving sister, Barb. Younger than Barb by eleven years, Margaret saw her sister as the star of her family. And no wonder. Barb's high school years were filled with achievement inside and outside of the classroom. After college, Barb married a charming young professor, Karim Shallal, and embraced living abroad with him, when he was offered a full professorship at Basra University in Iraq. That was in 1971.

In three years, everything changed. As Margaret Hawkins writes in her new book, How We Got Barb Back: The Story of My Sister's Reawakening after 30 Years of Schizophrenia, "On a promising day in 1974, my family's life blew up. That was the day my beautiful, bright, and very American older sister returned from Iraq. Something had changed during those years she was gone, and the Barb we knew never really returned. That Barb had vanished, and though her husband tried to bring her home, she was already gone."

Unimaginable as it might seem, for the next 32 years Barb went undiagnosed and untreated. How We Got Barb Back recounts the story of those years and the steps Margaret Hawkins took to bring her sister back from the depths of crippling mental illness. This story of sisterly love is both full of surprises and profoundly inspiring. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Inspiring and truthful tale of a family's response to schizophrenia
What struck me most throughout this book was the how much the Hawkins family cared for their oldest child Barbara.The care they gave her was not always conventional---her parents pretty much let the mental illness be untreated medically for 30 years---but they kept her home, kept her happy in the best ways they knew how and accepted her for what she was.When her father finally died at 89, her sister Margaret took over her care, and did it in such a wonderful way---again, accepting she didn't want to leave the house and gently, gently coaxing her into a more normal life.There are no bad guys here, and that is what I loved about the book.It's also a very hopeful message---that so much could be done to help Barbara even at age 63, that medication done correctly can do wonders, that even very limited lives can have a lot of value.I thought about these messages a lot while reading this book.I have a daughter with low functioning autism and retardation.In many ways I would be inclined to be like Barbara's father---sheltering my daughter from what is too much for her---but even though she is only 6, I've given in in a way and she takes the same medication Barbara does, ironically at the same starting dose, and I am trying to give her a chance to live in the wider world.But I was thinking how Barbara could have been much worse served than what she was.She missed the medications that worked less well than modern ones, she missed institutions and possible abuse, and she emerged at a time when things were in place to help her.I thank the author for this wonderful book.

An Account of 30 years of Codependency..And Spoiler Alert!
After reading the first 200 pages of this book it was clear to me that the promised happy ending was not in store for me.The core of the book is the description of how Barbs' parents, especially her father,dedicated more than 30 years to a refusal to address what was causing her odd, delusional and hallucination driven behavior. In retrospect it becomes clear that this was a long standing dysfunctional family coping strategy.Barb's mother suffered from untreated depression especially after her own mother's suicide and the family never acknowledged or addressed those problems during the parent's lifetimes either. Barb's father refused to seek any treatment for Barb during his lifetime and died at age 90 without ever seeking any sort of psychiatric help for her.The author and her brother were unable to sway her father from his loving codependent behavior or his fear and aversion to any psychiatric treatment for Barb.For me this is primarily a story of the profound power of parental love distorted to codependency.Only in retrospect does Hawkins show reasonable insight of how her parents' guilt and the stigma of mental illness led to their lifelong denial of the reality of Barb's profound mental illness.The fact that Barb improved significantly when her sister was able to obtain treatment for her after their father's death only adds to the sadness of the story in my opinion. For me this is primarily a cautionary tale about the damaging effects of codependency, guilt and personal and societal stigma around mental illness.Though apparently motivated by love,Barb's parents' actions and the inability of her siblings to influence their parents made her life much less than it could have been with treatment.Hawkins choses to portray the signficant improvements in Barb's life in the year after their father's death as a victory, but for me it was a hollow one.

Heartbreaking, yet inspiring
As someone with a mental illness, I know only too well the stigma and discrimination that is a reality for people with mental illness. It is hard to believe that stigma would still exist in the age of the internet. People can get cutting edge information with the simple click of a mouse. But as anyone with a mental illness can tell you, the stigma is very real. This is true of all mental illness, but perhaps no mental illness is more stigmatized and misunderstood than the one this book discusses:schizophrenia.

This book tells the story of Barb (the author's older sister) and her battle with schizophrenia. Barb went from being a vibrant, funny, engaging person, to a ghost of her former self. She spent more time communicating with her voices, than with people in the real world. She was sullen and withdrawn and basically took herself out of life. She was unwilling to live the house. Nothing seemed to really phase her.

It didn't help matters any, that Barb's parents were both very cynical and distrustful of the medical profession in general, but especially of therapists and psychiatrists. They also felt deep shame about their daughter's behavior. Their method of coping was to simply ignore the problem. To make matters worse, the common belief about mental illness was that it was a sign of personal weakness and the result of poor parenting. If there was mental illness in a family, the sanity of the rest of the family was called into question. This made them even more stubborn and determined not to get help for Barb. Instead, they just overlooked her odd behavior and expected others to do the same. But they seemed blind to the impact Barb's illness was having on the rest of the family. On the one hand, you can definitely sympathize with the parents. But at the same time, you have to wonder why they couldn't lay their own issues aside long enough to get their daughter the help she truly needed. Even though this book is written by Barb's sister Margie, it is very much Barb's story.

Even though this book describes the hell (in my opinion, that is the only word for it)a person with paranoid schizophrenia lives with without treatment, this is ultimately a book of hope. Even with modern medicine, there is no cure for schizophrenia. But the symptoms can be managed with medication. Barb is living proof of this. It took over 30 years, but Barb does eventually rejoin the living world. Glimmers of her previous personality, humor, and vibrancy begin to return. But I couldn't help be sad and wonder why it took over 30 years for her to get on medication.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has personal experience with schizophrenia. I would recommend it for someone who has a friend or family member who has been newly diagnosed. This book definitely opened my eyes to the nature of the disease. I plan on donating this book to my local chapter of NAMI, in the hopes that it will help and encourage someone else.

LOVED IT!Kind, honest, heart-warming story of mental illness
I have a relative, through marriage, who has had schizophrenia so I was especially interested in the story of Barb.Really, it is the story of Margaret, growing up with an older sister whose increasingly strange behavior shaped the lives of an entire family.The story is told with a lot of kindness and love, and generosity towards Barb's parents, who did the best they could in caring for her despite their personal limitations.It is clear that the author believes that her sister would have been better off had her parents consented to medical treatment when the symptoms of paranoia and psychotic breaks began.We are, after all, a culture that has more faith in medicine than in anything else and Margaret's beliefs would be echoed by a lot of people - i.e. that Barb would not have spent 30 years as a quietly paranoid agoraphobic if she had been medicated, and that her parents were to blame.

The irony is, if Barb had been medicated from the 70's until now, there would have been nothing left of her mind to emerge!The drugs in use during the70s and 80s would have destroyed whatever was left of her mind.That is precisely what has happened to my relative.He is an obese, blank, chain-smoking,TV-addicted institutionalized patient.His story has been repeated in many, many families.Drugs did not cure him, nor did they give him any kind of life.They made him manageable in an institutional setting.Barb lived at home.She lived on her own schedule, at what she wanted, argued with her voices, played small power games with her overbearing father, and was LOVED by her family members.Was she so badly off?

As it is, her parents did her a favor - kept her off drugs, took care of her, allowed her to be herself - and thirty years later, after the death of her parents, Barb CONSENTED to take some mild medication which freed her from her inner voices enough to live somewhat independently.

It is easy to assume that the mentally ill are miserable.Was Barb miserable in her untreated state?It's a good question.I will leave it up to other readers to decide for themselves.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone from mature teen on up.And I would recommend it to anyone who struggles with mental illness.

How we lost Barb.
This book is not so much about finding Barb, but about how Barb's brother and sister sat back for thirty years while their parents allowed Barb to stay in her room at their house without any treatment for her schizophrenia.

The book is readable, but basically repeats the same thing over and over.The author wasn't really around her sister very much for many years while she was away from home at school.Later she lived in the same city but only visited infrequently.So she often writes, "I can imagine what happened.....".

My problem is separating my feelings about how Barb was allowed to vegetate for 30 years from my enjoyment of the story as a story.I cannot explain why she wasn't treated without giving away too much of the story.If you are interested in knowing how it all happened read the book.But if you want to read an insightful, memoir about how they got Barb back, read the last fifty pages of the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Schizophrenia is one of the most devastating and mysterious mental illnesses. People with schizophrenia have the unique sensation that their brain is being taken over by external entities and that their heads are filled with voices that are not their own. Although it is increasingly recognized as a biological illness of the brain, it also has profound psychological implications for how we perceive reality.

The Madness Within Us: Schizophrenia as a Neuronal Process is an illuminating discussion of these two aspects of the illness. Dr. Robert Freedman, who is both a neuroscientist and a practicing clinical psychiatrist, outlines the emerging understanding of shizophrenia as a neurobiological illness and shows how these new insights can be used as a bridge to the psychological understanding of the delusions and hallucinations. He combines the findings of modern brain science with insights from the clinical practitioner's empathic listening to patients as they describe their problems. ... Read more

Product Description
Although there are many books that consider aspects of schizophrenia such as research or clinical care, now there is a single resource that puts the many facets of this widely misunderstood disorder in perspective. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Schizophrenia offers broad coverage that encompasses the current state of knowledge the cause, nature, and treatment of schizophrenia. Experts in a wide range of disciplines from North America and Europe have contributed chapters that address the complexity of schizophrenia in a comprehensive volume on this singularly perplexing mental illness.

No disorder is more challenging to psychiatrists and mental health care providers than schizophrenia, a condition that robs people of their personality and intellect and leaves them permanently disabled. This book leads readers through the maze of questions surrounding the disorder, from historical overview and epidemiology to consideration of comorbid conditions. It covers both genetic and environmental causes, describes all of the leading theories of schizophrenia—neurodevelopmental, neurochemical, phospholipid, and neuroprogressive—and explores the involvement of abnormal brain circuitry and the results of the latest neuroimaging studies. For practicing clinicians, the topics covered represent the most essential, timely, and informative insights for treating this most prototypic of mental illnesses:

• Approaching cognitive impairment as a potential psychopharmacological target for treatment, plus treatment strategies for improving functioning in individuals with social or vocational impairment.
• An overview of selected antipsychotic drugs-—ncluding common side effects—as well as antianxiety/hypnotics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and dopamine agonists.
• A review of current proven psychosocial interventions designed to augment and complement drug therapy, highlighting the trend toward optimizing patient preference in the choice of treatment modality.
• Keys to early identification of individuals vulnerable to psychoses and to assessing the potential for intervention with the promise of treatment earlier in life.
• Optimal treatment approaches for first episodes—including individual, group, and family therapies—to increase the likelihood of full recovery.
• Special considerations for treatment of chronic schizophrenia, addressing frequently asked questions faced by psychiatrists in their daily encounters with patients.

While its causes and cure remain elusive, schizophrenia can be better understood with the help of the authoritative knowledge collected in these pages. Squarely confronting a disease that has long afflicted and baffled human society, this textbook will serve as a dependable source of knowledge for a generation of students, scientists, and clinicians to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

mixed bag
The book is not as densely layered with information as one might expect. It approximates the Kaplan and Saddock style. There are only a few illustrations and tables, and chapters that require graphs etc are even printed on a different kind of paper.

The depth of information contained could and should be more extensive; the book is definitely not a reference book in my library. It does not approach the exhaustiveness and comprehensiveness of the Hirsch/Weinberger Schizophrenia textbook when it comes to reviewing scientific data (even though it is almost 10 years newer) nor does it render itself all too useful when looking for up-to-date treatment information. ... Read more

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Schizophrenia arguably is the most troubling, puzzling, and complex mental illness. No single discipline is equipped to understand it. Though schizophrenia has been investigated predominately from psychological, psychiatric and neurobiological perspectives, few attempts have been made to apply the tool kit of philosophy to schizophrenia, the mix of global analysis, conceptual insight, and argumentative clarity that is indicative of a philosophical perspective. This book is a major effort at redressing that imbalance. Recent developments in the area of philosophy known as the philosophy of psychiatry have made it clear that it is time for philosophy to contribute to our understanding of schizophrenia. The range of contributions is many and varied. Some contributors are professional philosophers; some not. Some contributions focus on matters of method and history. Others argue for dramatic reforms in our understanding of schizophrenia or its symptoms. The authors in this book are committed to the idea that philosophy can indeed help to understand schizophrenia in a way which is different from but complements traditional medical-clinical approaches.The book should appeal to every reader who wants to better understand a major mental illness, including its distinctive character, conscious content, and sources of puzzlement.Readers will find the essays gathered here afford stimulating insights into the human mind and its conditions of vulnerability. ... Read more

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Praise for the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series

"A major stumbling block to the adoption of evidence-based practice in the real world of clinical practice has been the absence of clinician-friendly guides suitable for learning specific empirically supported treatments. Such guides need to be understandable, free of technical research jargon, infused with clinical expertise, and rich with real-life examples. Rubin and Springer have hit a home run with the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, which has all of these characteristics and more."
—Edward J. Mullen, Willma and Albert Musher Chair Professor, Columbia University

State-of-the-art, empirical support for psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia

Part of the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, Psychosocial Treatment of Schizophrenia provides busy mental health practitioners with detailed, step-by-step guidance for implementing clinical interventions that are supported by the latest scientific evidence.

This thorough, yet practical, reference draws on a roster of experts and researchers in the field who have assembled state-of-the-art knowledge into this well-rounded guide. Each chapter serves as a practitioner-focused how-to reference and covers interventions that have the best empirical support for the psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia, including:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Assertive community treatment
• Critical time intervention
• Motivational interviewing for medication adherence
• Psychoeducational family groups
• Illness management and recovery

Easy-to-use and accessible in tone, Psychosocial Treatment of Schizophrenia is an indispensable resource for practitioners who would like to implement evidence-based, compassionate, effective interventions in the care of people with schizophrenia. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Useful clinical resource
This is a useful book for any clinician working with people with schizophrenia. One of its attractions is the broad range of topics covered, all written in a simple and direct style towards clinicians with a minimum of references and lengthy research reviews, and an emphasis on providing practical clinical guidelines. The book is divided into 8 sections: Core Science and Background (11 chapters), Assessment and Diagnosis (4 chapters), Somatic Treatment (5 chapters), Psychosocial Treatment (10 chapters), Systems of Care (5 chapters), Special Populations and Problems (11 Chapters), Policy, Legal, and Social Issues (6 Chapters), and Special Topics (8 chapters), with most chapters in the 7-15 page range. The greatest strength of the book is its comprehensivecoverage of psychosocial treatments (including chapters addressing topics such as cognitive-behavior therapy for psychosis, family treatment), and special populations and problems, (including chapters such as first episode psychosis, aggression, medical comorbidity, and intellectual disability). An especially unique chapter is devoted to the issue of promoting health sexuality in schizophrenia, a common but neglected problem.

Clinical Psychologist ... Read more

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Unifies Dr. Abram Hoffer's How to Live with Schizophrenia and Common Questions about Schizophrenia, with informationon new research and treatments featuring the nutritional treatment of schizophrenia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Worth Every Penny!
Wow!I have learned more from this 213 page book than I have from five years worth of doctors.I have put into use some of the suggestions in the book and my family member is doing so well one of their medications is being eliminated.Well worth trying!
Healing Schizophrenia: Complementary Vitamin & Drug Treatments

Advisedly optimistic
When I stumbled across this book I was looking for some help for a sibling.My family and I had seen the detrimental tranquilizing affects of anti-psychotic meds first hand.Moreover, their side effects (even with the new generation of meds) can include tardive dyskinesia. This book provided some much needed hope that there might be something proposing an alternate.This is a well written book intended for comprehension by the general public. And while I am aware of the APA's 1973 criticisms of niacin therapy, I was disposed to try it anyway.Dr. Hoffer provided convincing anecdotal evidence that there was at least some efficacy in the use of his regimen.He does not claim that all schizophrenics will be entirely off anti-psyche meds with the use of his regimen.A nice side effect of niacin therapy (we use inositol hexanicotinate) at high dosages is a reduction of LDL cholesterol.At any rate, Hoffer's book ultimately convinced us to try the treatment.My sibling has now been off anti-depressants and anti-psyche meds for some time now. The tardive dyskinesia sx that had emerged are also gone.It is too early to state that my sibling is entirely free of previous sx and to be convinced that they may not return.However, even in the event they do return, my sibling will have had a reasonably lengthy "drug holiday".It has meant much to my sibling and to us to have allowed the personality, love of life, awareness, to have returned for a time.I highly recommend Abram Hoffer's book for those interested in learning about schizophrenia, its symptoms, causes, and potential alternative treatments.I might add that prayer and requests for divine intervention have been a big part of our treatment plan as well.

Response to criticism of niacin therapy
I feel I should offer a rebuttal to B. Chiko. The report referenced by Chiko is the 1973 APA psychological report, a report full of errors, misleading statements and poor arguments. Hoffer has claimed that Niacin & vitamin C works best on acute schizophrenics, the 1973 report used niacin alone on chronic schizophrenics. Hoffer wrote a well thought out retort to the 1973 report entitled `Megavitamin Therapy in reply to The American Psychiatric Association Task Force Report on Megavitamin and Orthomolecular Therapy in Psychiatry.' In it he details all of the misleading statements of the APA report, and I urge everyone here to actually read the 1973 report and its rebuttal. In fact, after reading this retort JR Wittenborn, one of the six authors of the APA report conducted a test of niacin using Hoffer's parameters (acute schizophrenics) and found positive results (A Search for Responders to Niacin Supplementation). Naturally none of the skepticsreference that study. Hoffer claims his theories have helped over 100,000 patients with niacin. Should we encourage all of them to throw their niacin in the trash? I urge everyone here swayed by either my or Chikos arguments to actually read the 1973 report, then read the rebuttal.

There was a drug for schizophrenia first discovered over 50 years ago, but because it was a medication unrelated to mental illness nobody wanted to use it. Doctors laughed at other doctors who prescribed it and many in the medical community wrote off how effective it was. However for the doctors willing to shrug off the criticism of the skeptics and who tried it noticed massive improvements. This drug was just an antihistamine, how could it treat schizophrenia? That drug was called thorazine (thorazine was originally an antihistamine), and it started the revolution that led to antipsychotic medications which has helped millions of people. Where would we be if we had just written off thorazine because it was `just an antihistamine'? Why is this better than writing off niacin for being `just a vitamin'?Would we be better off today as a community of medical patients if we had let the skeptics win on that battle? Would we have geodon, abilify or risperdal today if we hadn't fought back against the medical dogmatists fifty years ago?

All I know is my feelings of unreality, my magical thinking and my paranoia are not present now that I am on niacin therapy. No error laden, misleading study written 33 years ago is going to make me feel like I'm not better or take away the fact that I can function better.

comphrensive and to the point
Thanks God, for doctors like Abram Hoffer.His book(s) have given me great insight into the true nature of schizophrenia.My son may one day soon have a life because of Dr. Abram Hoffer and his students.

Seller Trustworthy!
Excellent Seller -- prompt sending of product; book as stated, fine condition! Thanks! ... Read more

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Separated from her mother at an early age, Tara Elgin Holley became her mother's legal guardian at age 16 and set about trying to rescue the blonde fairy princess she remembered from the shambling street person her mother had become. An inspiring story of one woman's struggle to struggle through the pain to reach a better understanding of her mother, herself and a devastating mental illness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A very well written memoir
I thought this was a very well written memoir, and I read A LOT of memoirs. It was fascinating reading about Schizophrenia I learned about that disease and reading it has brought about me getting interested in reading more about that mental illness (and other types as well)I read this book within a couple of days. It has very good character development--the results are feeling for everyone in this family and others (that are looking in on the family):)

Excellent book that provided much comfort
As a young woman with a mother who has paranoid schizophrenia, this book was invaluable to me.My mom was missing for 12 years, and I received this as a gift not long after finding her (about a year and a half ago).It was personally very comforting for me to read this wonderful book, and I would recommend it to anyone. Ms. Holley's close bond with her mom reminded me of the bond I had/have with mine, and the inherently conflicted feelings that result from that bond.

A Must Read
My Mother's Keeper is an excellent autobiography/biography in one of a mother and daughter and their separate and entwined lives.I am a mental health RN and have been studying about schizophrenia.This book has helped me see in places I have never been able to see into before.I now have a broader perspective of schizophrenia and how families must feel also.Ms. Holley's writing is easy to read and follow.So much so, that it is very hard to put the book down.This is definitely a must read for anyone who wants to find out more about schizophrenia.

Moving telling of a difficult story
This was an exceptionally well written memoir, one that must have been very difficult to write. Ms. Elgin moves gracefully along the line between her mother's story and her own, and (it appears) honestly grapples with theups and downs of both.Thank you.

Accurate, yet sensitive and personal
This book provides an accurate description of the development and chronic course of schizophrenia, one of the most debilitating illnesses of our time.The Holleys' sensitive portrayal of Mrs. Elgin's life touched me deeply.I thank them for giving us and honest depiction of this illness. ... Read more

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Approximately one percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their life-time. This chronic, severe mental illness can be devastating for patients and their family and friends. Whether you're a newly diagnosed patient with schizophrenia, or a friend or relative of someone suffering from this mental illness, this book offers help. Completely revised and updated, 100 Questions & Answers About Schizophrenia: Painful Minds, Second Edition gives you authoritative, practical answers to your questions about treatment options, sources of support, and much more. Written by an expert on the subject, and including a foreword by parents of a person with schizophrenia, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone coping with the physical and emotional turmoil of schizophrenia. ... Read more

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A journalist's memoir, written with his son, about his son's descent into schizophrenia--a profoundly moving account of mental illness in the family. ... Read more

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How do political, economic, and labor market forces shape social responses to the mentally ill, and influence the onset and course of one of the most common forms of mental illness? In this revised and updated third edition, Dr. Warner analyzes the latest research and tells us whether conditions and outcome for people with schizophrenia are getting better or worse. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A neglected contribution
(I have not yet read the second edition of this book but it is reasonable to assume that it is an updated version of the first edition, which is the book I am referring to.) This is an extraordinary book which reviewsthe entired field of social structure and mental illness. (In fact my onlyobjection to the book is the title, which suggests a far narrower fieldthan is actually covered in the work.)Warner seems to have read all therelevant literature and has the distinct advantage of being able to placestudies of mental health in a social, historical and cross-culturalcontext.His analysis is thorough and creative and he makes a verypersuasive case that the predominant causes of mental illness, includingschizophrenia, are more deeply rooted in the social system than the myopic,insulated views of most psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists canenvision. His arguments against the "social drift" hypothesis andother self serving illusions of contemporary psychotherapeutica reaserchare extremely important.His willingness to incorporate insights from avariety of social thinker, including Marx (yet, that Marx) give the book adeep analyitic resonance. It is not accidental that this book is notwidely known for it does not fit easily into the reified bioligicalaccounts of mental illness that have been playing havoc with the field forthe last 25 years or so. ... Read more