 | | |
| The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness | 
 enlarge | Author: Elyn R. Saks
Publisher: Hyperion
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $6.98
You Save: $17.97 (72%)
Buy New/Used from $6.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  (74 reviews)
Sales Rank: 65410
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 140130138X
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.8980092
EAN: 9781401301385
ASIN: 140130138X
Publication Date: August 14, 2007
Release Date: August 14, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Caution! December 6, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
First of all, she seems like a remarkably brilliant, hardworking and resilient person with not only personal accomplishments, but also with significant contributions to the legal and mental health fields. It is great to hear success stories of people with severe difficulties. Having said that, I think that memoirs of this kind needs to be read with caution as it present subjective, anecdotal, case examples of an individual, in this case a person with exceptional abilities and resources that are desirable, but rare among the mentally ill population that are dependent on social security disability benefits and are not able to afford years of almost daily psychoanalysis. Who would disagree that it is inhumane to restrain another human being, or that it is better to respect pt's autonomy about taking medications? But these need resources, for example, patients without restraints, particularly when they are unstable as the author was, need one on one supervision to secure their safety, which means hospital staffing. Also think about all the possible lawsuits (in our society) that health care providers have to worry in case something happens to patients or staff? Think about the duration of hospital stay if pts do not take medications and the health care costs? How about the public and media that blame doctors when the patients leave hospital because of their legal rights and then kill somebody? (remember the new york commuter that was pushed down and killed in subway by a paranoid mental patient? NBC aired very skewed and biased reports on one of their news shows) I am by no means justifying these reasons, however, it is the reality affecting the quality of mental healthcare. This book presents valuable, yet only limited fragments of the mental health issues. My caution is--if this book interested you, then do not stop, but keep reading other books on mental health in order to get comprehensive understanding of the lives of the people with mental illnesses. (for example, "Crazy" by Pete Earley) I gave only 2 stars because after reading many memoirs about mental illness, I expected this one to be more intellectual and sophisticated by a prefessor, but found the writing disappointingly simple and unremarkable.
 The Center Cannot Hold;: My Journey Through Madness November 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an amazing account of an intelligent woman who will not let one of the most devastating mental illnesses, schizophrenia, beat her. Her courage and honesty are amazing. What she has achieved is beyond what "normal" people can imagine. She has done so much for those with mental illness and their families by her brave account, not just in showing how it can be managed but the failures of understanding in the medical community.
 the center CAN hold November 2, 2008
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
I struggled through this book. Surely Elyn would quit having so many psychotic symptoms; surely her meds would stop her symptoms; certainly she would realize that seeing an analyst was not helping with her symptoms. About two-thirds of the way through, I put it down thinking I would return it to its owner.
However, a month later when I read some positive book reviews, I picked it back up hoping to read that she was free of psychotic symptoms. Instead, she continues to live inside her illness and hold onto her symptoms.
As a person with a psychotic disorder, I know that recovery from these painful symptoms is possible. And it isn't just the meds that help one recover. The fundamental change in how I perceived and reacted to my world came from changing my thinking.
Recovery is personal to everyone and obviously Elyn's idea of recovery is to continue living with her horrible symptoms and maintain the capacity to live a productive life. For me, I choose to find alternative ways to heal that include positive expectations for myself and the world around me.
Elyn, the center CAN hold; the center DOES hold. It's all we have.
If you are a family member of a person with a psychotic disorder and you want your loved one to suffer the rest of their life, then send them to a psychoanalyst. If you truly want happiness, freedom, independence and all the wonderful things life has to offer for your family member, then read Jill Bolte Taylor's, My Stroke of Insight. "Peace is just a thought away."
 The Center Finally Does Hold October 31, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
'The Center Cannot Hold' presents an extremely admirable story. Professor Saks not only survives but thrives despite having schizophrenia. 'The Center Cannot Hold' shows Professor Saks to have an almost superhuman will power. Despite set back after set back Professor Saks returns to the ring time after time and finally triumphs. I think the real strength of this book is that it shows people with schizophrenia frequently to be decent caring people with a profound sense of justice. In terms of psychoanalysis, vis-a-vis Dr. Saks the proof is in the pudding, but psychoanalyis isn't really such a terrifc option for the vast majority of people with schizophrenia. Too, a similiar career path to the career path of Dr. Saks is largely out of the question for most people with schizophrenia. I think the main strenth of the book is to show than people with schizophrenia can be very very ill but at the same time fully human.
Something is missing here. October 6, 2008
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
What everyone who reviews this book and Ms. Saks herself untterly fails to realize is the devastating affect that her two years with "Operation ReEntry" had on her emotional and psychological development. Spawned from Synanon, a destructive and cruel cult that borrowed its methods from Korean war era mind-control and brainwashing techniques, it had her brainwashed into believing that she needed to have her spirit broken down and "rebuilt" although she never makes clear in what way it was beneficial for her to have spent two years being yelled at, made to scrub the stairs with a toothbrush, cut off from normal teenage activities, separated from her peers and turned over to a group of controlling drug addicts. Nor how her spirit was supposedly rebuilt nor to whose specifications. Lots of people have done far more drugs that Ms. Saks did and are fine. But when your parents abandon you to a cult that turns sanity, reality and common sense on its head then makes you believe you are crazy if you challange it, truth gets twisted into such a Gordian knot that sometimes insanity is the only escape. The lady seriously needs to reexamine that time in her life to understand the damage that was done by her post-traumatic reaction to her semi-incarceration. I'm not saying that she would not have schizophrenia anyway. But the massively profitable "behavioral" programs that Synanon spawned have been the cause of much post-traumatic stress and suicide, not to mention the kids who died in the "programs" as a result of abuse and neglect. Although I admire her and her accomplishments there is a big piece of the puzzle missing here. I hope Ms. Saks will do a rigorous re-examination of this time in her life and write about it.
|
|
|
The Nurse Job Online Shop From NurseSpot.comInternational Orders & Shipping
We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.
Another excellent option is shopping with our affiliate eBay, Look Here:
Shipping Restrictions
Warranty issues and manufacturer restrictions prevent us from shipping certain products to all geographical locations. You'll be notified while placing your order if we're unable to ship specific items to the address you've selected.
International Addresses
The following items can be shipped to destinations outside the U.S.:
* books*
* DVDs
* music
* VHS videos
Additionally, some software, tools, and kitchen items can be shipped to the following countries:
* Australia
* Austria
* Denmark
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Japan
* Ireland
* Italy
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Sweden
* United Kingdom
These items can be shipped only via Priority International Shipping and are subject to an import fees deposit.
*Note: Books that require special handling because they are extremely heavy (for example, multi-volume sets) cannot be shipped outside the U.S. If this is the case, it will be noted on the product detail page.
When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Shipping date estimates will appear in the order form. After placing your order, you will see both shipping and delivery date estimates in the order confirmation e-mail and in the order summary in Your Account.
Calculating Cost
Shipping costs depend upon the method and option you choose.
If you choose to group items into as few shipments as possible, you'll be charged for one regular per-shipment fee, as well as a per-item fee for each item in that shipment.
If you choose to ship items as soon as they become available, we'll charge you full per-shipment fees for each shipment as well as a per-item fee for each item.
Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound. |
|
|
| | |