This is a powerful story of a woman’s fight against schizophrenia. Saks grew up in a loving family, and though she did suffer occasional fears in the night, it wasn’t until she was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University that she had her first full fledged attack of the disease that would be with her for the rest of her life.
Her drive to succeed in getting a law degree and her determination to have a meaningful life and career are in constant battle with the voices in her head, which keep hammering that she is wicked, worthless and should die. Saks writes of time spent in various hospitals describing their often brutal, always dreary atmosphere and boredom. She describes being patronized by doctors and nurses. She also speaks feelingly of the kindness, understanding and incredible patience of friends and therapists who have helped her along her troubled way.
Now a professor in schools of Law and Psychiatry, as well as a research clinical associate at the New Center for Psychoanalysis, Saks in writing this book has given readers inspiration, understanding, and a well earned, hopeful ending.
[Published 2007]
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