New York Times-bestselling author Ron Powers offers a searching, richly researched narrative of the social history of mental illness in America paired with the deeply personal story of his two sons’ battles with schizophrenia. From the centuries of torture of “lunatiks” at Bedlam Asylum to the infamous eugenics era to the follies of the anti-psychiatry movement to the current landscape in which … current landscape in which too many families struggle alone to manage afflicted love ones, Powers limns our fears and myths about mental illness and the fractured public policies that have resulted.
Braided with that history is the moving story of Powers’s beloved son Kevin — spirited, endearing, and gifted — who triumphed even while suffering from schizophrenia until finally he did not, and the story of his courageous surviving son Dean, who is also schizophrenic.
A blend of history, biography, memoir, and current affairs ending with a consideration of where we might go from here, this is a thought-provoking look at a dreaded illness that has long been misunderstood.
“Extraordinary and courageous . . . No doubt if everyone were to read this book, the world would change.” — New York Times Book Review
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History of Psychiatry, A Family Disrupted by Schizophrenia, and The Broken Mental Health System
Ron Powers pours the pain of his family ordeals, with his sons having both suffered from mental health and the system meant to help them. This is a good book for those unaware of the trials and tribulations that families and individuals face today when it comes to the battles of mental health (schizophrenia especially, but many of the struggles described are felt across a wide spectrum of illnesses) and a system caught between the oppressive history and corrections of liberation.
A riveting history of how society has failed to help the mentally ill in a significent manner the author Ron Powers whose two sons suffer from schizophrenia loses one son by sucicide and finds every method available not to have this happen to his second son an important read to help us understand this perplexing disease
No One Cares About Crazy People is Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author Ron Powers’ exploration of his two sons’ journeys with schizophrenia combined with a sweeping social history of mental health care and attitudes towards those with mental illness. He skillfully interweaves these separate threads, drawing the reader along from the early days of Bedlam to the tragic loss of one of his sons. The toll that mental illness has exacted on the Powers family and the obstacles that arose in accessing care for sons Dean and Kevin are heartbreaking, while the historical picture painted is both eye-opening and profoundly disturbing.
The powerlessness that can go along with loving a mentally ill person is heart-wrenchingly captured in Powers’ account of his son’s illness journeys. Kevin was initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder before the full extent of his psychotic symptoms unfolded, leading to a delay in getting him started on antipsychotic medication. Before his suicide, he had been seeing his treatment team regularly, and was still passionate about his music and future-oriented. Not once did he speak openly to anyone of suicide, leaving those who loved him powerless to intervene.
Powers openly challenges the social stigma and lack of understanding regarding mental illness. He likens the mental health condition of schizophrenia to the physical health condition of cancer: “a predator without peer and impervious to cure”. He identifies numerous ways in which those with mental illness can contribute to their communities, and emphasizes the importance of having the right types of supports that can make that happen.
The book concludes with a call to action: “The mentally ill people in our lives, as they strive to build healthy, well-supported, and rewarding lives for themselves, can show us all how to reconnect with the most primal of human urges, the urge to be of use, disentangling from social striving, consumer obsession, cynicism, boredom, and isolation, and honoring it among the true sources of human happiness. To put it another way: the mentally ill in our society are awaiting their chance to heal us, if we can only manage to escape our own anosognosia and admit that we need their help.”
There are many voices that can contribute to the dialogue around mental illness. It is essential to hear the voices of those with lived experience of mental illness, and those voices can’t be replaced by the voices of love ones or professionals. However, embracing all of these voices can allow us to construct a more coherent social narrative regarding mental illness. This book makes a strong contribution to that narrative by improving awareness and challenging stigmatizing beliefs, and it will also resonate deeply with those whose lives have been touched in some way with mental illness.