The Edge of Every Day: Sketches of Schizophrenia is "the debut of an important new literary voice: Marin Sardy's
extraordinarily affecting, fiercely intelligent memoir unflinchingly
traces the path of the schizophrenia that runs in her family. Against
the starkly beautiful backdrop of Anchorage, Alaska, where the author
grew up, Marin Sardy weaves a fearless account of the shapeless
thief—the schizophrenia—that kept her mother immersed in a world of
private delusion and later manifested in her brother, ultimately
claiming his life. Composed of exquisite, self-contained
chapters that take us through three generations of this adventurous,
artistic, and often haunted family,
The Edge of Every Day draws
in topics from neuroscience and evolution to the mythology and art rock
to shape its brilliant inquiry into how the mind works. In the process,
Sardy casts new light on the treatment of the mentally ill in our
society. Through it all runs her blazing compassion and relentless
curiosity, as her meditations takes us to the very edge of love and
loss—and invite us to look at what comes after." (from Amazon.com)
"A psychiatrist and award-winning documentarian sheds light on the mental-health-care crisis in the United States. When
Dr. Kenneth Rosenberg trained as a psychiatrist in the late 1980s, the
state mental hospitals, which had reached peak occupancy in the 1950s,
were being closed at an alarming rate, with many patients having nowhere
to go. There has never been a more important time for this
conversation, as one in five adults--40 million Americans--experiences
mental illness each year. Today, the largest mental institution in the
United States is the Los Angeles County Jail, and the last refuge for
many of the 20,000 mentally ill people living on the streets of Los
Angeles is L.A. County Hospital. There, Dr. Rosenberg begins his
chronicle of what it means to be mentally ill in America today,
integrating his own moving story of how the system failed his sister,
Merle, who had schizophrenia. As he says, "I have come to see that my
family's tragedy, my family's shame, is America's great secret." Dr.
Rosenberg gives readers an inside look at the historical, political,
and economic forces that have resulted in the greatest social crisis of
the twenty-first century. The culmination of a seven-year inquiry,
Bedlam
is not only a rallying cry for change, but also a guidebook for how we
move forward with care and compassion, with resources that have never
before been compiled, including legal advice, practical solutions for
parents and loved ones, help finding community support, and information
on therapeutic options." (from Amazon.com)
"It was New Year’s Day. Rikke Schmidt Kjærgaard, a young mother and
scientist, was celebrating with family and friends when she was struck
down with a sudden fever. Within hours, she’d suffered multiple organ
failure and was clinically dead. Then, brought back to the edge
of life—trapped in a near-death coma—she was given a 5 percent chance of
survival. She awoke to find herself completely paralyzed, with blinking
as her sole means of communicating with the outside world.
The Blink of an Eye
is Rikke’s gripping account of being locked inside her own body, and
what it took to painstakingly relearn every basic life skill—from
breathing and swallowing, speaking and walking, to truly
living
again. Much more than an account of recovery against all odds—this is,
at its heart, a celebration of love, family, and every little thing that
matters when life hangs in the balance." (from Amazon.com)
"Seeking therapy is among
the most important mental health decisions a person will make and, yet,
many clients are poorly prepared for what lays ahead. Here, Jared Scherz
outlines the process for seeking therapy, from finding the right
therapist and approach, to navigating the insurance and billing systems
available. He details the most common pitfalls clients and their
therapists face once therapy has commenced, and guides readers to
avoiding those mistakes that can sabotage counseling. Whether
considering therapy for the first time or evaluating current help, this
is the perfect companion to personal growth. Different from other
books, insight is offered into types of therapy, such as group,
marriage, or individual counseling, as well as theoretic orientations to
help readers understand therapeutic approaches from the point of view
of the provider. Scherz encourages a greater sense of personal
responsibility and empowerment to navigate the healing and wholeness
paths. Alternative health practices are also outlined to help people who
wish to take a more holistic approach to wellness, both mental and
physical. Readers will feel empowered by this book to take the first
steps necessary to get the help they need, to continue along a path
already chosen, or to take a different approach when one is not already
working." (from Amazon.com)
In honor of National Poetry Month, I’m reading Unseen Poems by the widely beloved medieval Persian poet Rumi. Rumi (1207-1273) was trained in Sufism--a mystic tradition within Islam--and founded the Sufi order known to us as the Whirling Dervishes, who use dance and music as part of their spiritual devotion. Rumi's poetry has long been popular with contemporary Western audiences because of the way it combines the sacred and the sensual, describing divine love in rapturously human terms. However, a number of Rumi's English translators over the past century were not speakers of Persian and they based their sometimes very free interpretations on earlier translations. With Western audiences in mind, translators also tended to tone down or leave out elements of Persian culture and of Islam in Rumi's work, and hundreds of the prolific poet's works were never made available to English speakers at all. In this new translation -- composed almost entirely of untranslated gems from Rumi's vast ouevre -- Brad Gooch and Maryam Mortaz aim to achieve greater fidelity to the originals while still allowing Rumi's lyric exuberance to shine.
