USC law professor tells of journey through mental illness
September 11th, 2007
‘Thanks to medication and therapy, Elyn Saks has the upper hand on schizophrenia.’
From a front-page feature in the Los Angeles Times.
USC law professor Elyn Saks has decided it’s time to go public with her personal experiences as a person with mental illness. The result: a memoir called “The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.”
Here’s an excerpt from the Times story:
[Saks] has defied the prediction of a doctor who once said she would never lead an independent life. She has even flourished, thanks to a strict regimen of medication and talk therapy.
Now she wants to dash the myths surrounding an illness that affects 3 million Americans: Schizophrenics aren’t all emotionally out of touch, shouting and swiping at gremlins, shut away in hospitals. Like her, some lead productive lives with good friends, loving spouses and precious emotional triumphs.
As a lawyer, Saks has pursued the issue of mental illness, researching complex civil issues such as involuntary commitment and the insanity defense. She objects to attitudes among doctors that people with mental illness are “less valuable, defective.”
Publisher’s Weekly has a brief review here.
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May 14th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Do you know of any organizations or movements aimed at improving the financial lives of the mentally ill? I have bipolar disorder and cannot work. I am expected to live on $777 per month. I have lost most of my dignity and hope due to the chronic stress of poverty.
Thanks.
Faith Peeples
Pittsburgh