Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful book on mental illness
Review: This book is about a young woman, Alice, who struggles with schizophrenia. At first, her mother's church tries exorcising the demons out. When that didn't work, she is dragged to a horrible mental hospital where she is doped up. She then escapes to the streets, until she is led to a kind woman (Faye) who takes her and her cat in. She then finds help at the Golden House through Faye's nephew, Simon.This book is very thoroughly researched, with different treatment approaches presented, from the tradition approach, used at Forest Hills, to a more progressive approach, used at the Golden House. Carlson talks about all the different symptoms and things people with schizophrenia deals with. I've visited some of the websites listed in the back of Carlson's book and have found that what she has in her book is in line with what is on the website. Carlson also talks about the view that some churches hold on mental illnesses. Some churches believe that mental illnesses are caused by sin problems. Unfortunately, that point of view is not helpful to the person with the mental illness and that is brought out in this book. I also liked how Carlson told the book from the first person perspective. This gave the reader an idea of what all Alice was going through, her feelings, fears, and how she perceived the world. All this gives an accurate description of what a schizophrenic goes through. And I wish we had more treatment places such as the Golden House for people who are mentally ill. Patients are treated with so much respect and dignity, as opposed to some of the traditional mental institutions where patients are treated more like animals than humans.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book on mental illness
Review: This book is about a young woman, Alice, who struggles with schizophrenia. At first, her mother's church tries exorcising the demons out. When that didn't work, she is dragged to a horrible mental hospital where she is doped up. She then escapes to the streets, until she is led to a kind woman (Faye) who takes her and her cat in. She then finds help at the Golden House through Faye's nephew, Simon. This book is very thoroughly researched, with different treatment approaches presented, from the tradition approach, used at Forest Hills, to a more progressive approach, used at the Golden House. Carlson talks about all the different symptoms and things people with schizophrenia deals with. I've visited some of the websites listed in the back of Carlson's book and have found that what she has in her book is in line with what is on the website. Carlson also talks about the view that some churches hold on mental illnesses. Some churches believe that mental illnesses are caused by sin problems. Unfortunately, that point of view is not helpful to the person with the mental illness and that is brought out in this book. I also liked how Carlson told the book from the first person perspective. This gave the reader an idea of what all Alice was going through, her feelings, fears, and how she perceived the world. All this gives an accurate description of what a schizophrenic goes through. And I wish we had more treatment places such as the Golden House for people who are mentally ill. Patients are treated with so much respect and dignity, as opposed to some of the traditional mental institutions where patients are treated more like animals than humans.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book was extremely insightful- while I thought I knew quite a bit about schizophrenia, this book shed light on the way those who deal with the illness really feel. It was very interesting to see how Alice struggled with herself- half the time she was aware that something was not right and was referring to herself as 'crazy,' and the other half she was knee-deep in the symptoms of schizophrenia. The other loveable characters in this book added to overall depth and warmth of this wonderful story.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This is a page turner that you won't be able to put down. Melody is a great writer and she invites you into a world that is scary, interesting, and simply amazing all the while teaching compassion, understanding and love.
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