Robert Francis shares some short stories of his experiences with schizophrenia as a young man. Using humor and layperson’s terms to help the reader understand the jargon used in diagnosing schizophrenia, Francis helps us to comprehend and accept this mental disorder.
Through my education in college, I took many psychology courses and schizophrenia was touched on frequently, but not completely. I understood, through textbooks and medical articles about what schizophrenia entails. Francis comfortably puts a unique learning experience by giving the reader actual episodes in which he experiences the auditory hallucinations and delusions.
Fast forward to an older Francis and he reflects on these events and identifies the episodes. This is a learning process for him, as well as informative to the reader. There are perspectives in each chapter that are an eye-opener to those that do not experience schizophrenia.
Francis explains the reason for this book is; “I wrote it because I passionately and absolutely believe in recovery from schizophrenia.”
I think that the best method of learning and understanding any mental disorder is to consider listening or reading about experiences that a person goes through. A textbook or medical articles and journals are not going to show the complete inner thoughts or ideations that a person experiences. Having these types of books is crucial in the mental health field and for friends and family that have someone they know with schizophrenia.
Robert Francis does a fabulous job bringing the reader closer to him and his past experiences. A well-written book with a profound impact on those searching for actual situations with a person who has schizophrenia. This would be a great addition to college courses to accompany the textbooks required. This book will help push the reader to understand a deeper and more valuable lesson in relation to schizophrenia.
Thank you, Robert Francis, for this wonderful book and sharing your journey with us.
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