From the Ashes of Experience: Reflections of Madness, Survival and Growth [Paperback]

Phil Barker (Author), Peter Campbell (Author), Ben Davidson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1861561202 | ISBN-13: 978-1861561206 | Publication Date: October 31, 2005 | Edition: 1

It could be argued that a more sensitive appreciation of the total reality of the ?madness experience?, of the interior perceptions, feelings and thoughts, and the exterior reactions based on them, is the single most important development that could improve the quality of life of those diagnosed mentally ill. This book aims to offer just that, presenting a number of personal experiences and providing an alternative to the received wisdom that mental illness is an affliction, an inevitably demoralising experience, which all patients would avoid if they could.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

It could be argued that a more sensitive appreciation of the total reality of the ?madness experience?, of the interior perceptions, feelings and thoughts, and the exterior reactions based on them, is the single most important development that could improve the quality of life of those diagnosed mentally ill. This book aims to offer just that, presenting a number of personal experiences and providing an alternative to the received wisdom that mental illness is an affliction, an inevitably demoralising experience, which all patients would avoid if they could.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861561202
• ISBN-13: 978-1861561206
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,005,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Experience of Madness, May 17, 2000

By 

Sally Clay "On Our Own, Together: Peer Progra... (Lake Placid, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From the Ashes of Experience: Reflections of Madness, Survival and Growth (Paperback)

This book contains chapters written by mental health consumer/survivors, edited and discussed by distinguished advocates in the field of psychiatric nursing. All of the survivors eloquently describe their personal experience with madness and with institutional treatment sometimes more damaging that the madness itself. They present experiences of madness from the inside, the meaning these experiences hold for them, and the various and individual journeys each has taken in recovery and personal growth. Readers will find here descriptions of spiritual aspects of madness as well as accounts of recovery from madness through the "peer principle" of helping ourselves and others. Chapters were written by psychiatric survivors from Great Britain, the United States, and Australia. Authors from the United States include Kate Millett, Judi Chamberlin, Dan Fisher, and Sally Clay (myself).