Customer Reviews

Autobiography of a Schizophrenic Girl: The True Story of "Renee"

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I would have given this book 5 stars, but the Freudian analysis by Dr. Sechehaye at the end of the book is obsolete; indeed, it makes for better reading if one simply skips that section. In fact, even Freud himself thought psychoanalysis would not do schizophrenics any good.

This book should be read by anyone interested in a first-person account of what it's like to suffer from schizophrenia. It's nice that the story has a happy ending for the anonymous sufferer, often not the case for schizophrenics in the days before modern medications. Even today, it's horrible; but the chances of leading a normal life are better.

I was extremely disappointed when I read this book. I am a mental health counselor and work with people who have chronic schizophrenia. This book was confusing and unclear and I thought much of the meaning was lost in the translation of the book. This book unfortunately did not well illustrate what it is like to have this disease or what it is like to work with someone who does. Honestly, if you want to get a better feel for schizophrenia because you simply want to learn more about it or because you know someone who has it, I would recommend The Quiet Room by Lori Schiller.

I have read a few psychology books and journal articles that dealt with schizophrenia, but the view I almost always had of the disease was the view of a detached scientist trying to understand the disease, not trying to understand how the person with the disease actually felt. This was one of the few times I got a look at what it's like to have shizophrenia from the viewpoint of the person with schizophrenia. It was very disturbing, but I would think also very helpful for a person who wants to be a therapist and work with people who have schizophrenia. You will understand the pain a person with (a certain type of) schizophrenia is experiencing if you read this book.

On the other hand, this book is very old, the events in the book took place before 1952 (the copyright of the book is 1951), when effective medications for shizophrenia first came out. Renee's story might have been very different if it had happened today, especially since the symptoms of schizophrenia that she suffers from are the type that would probably respond very well to medication (she clearly suffers from positive symptoms of schizophrenia rather than negative symptoms, and positive symptoms do respond better to medications). Also, as another reviewer kind of mentioned, Freudian analysis, the kind Renee received, is no longer widely considered an effective therapy for this disease. When Renee recovered from her illness, I had the impression that it wasn't because of any therapy she received but it was because she is one of the fortunate people who sometimes get better on their own. Studies even indicate that most people's symptoms do lessen as they get older, apparently on their own.

There is no way a teenage girl who spent most of her life in an institution wrote this book. It is my guess that her psychiatrist wrote it. It reads like an encyclopedia! It's too bad because the subject matter is so interesting. But the way it was written is confusing. I would pass on this book.

I very much enjoyed this book insomuch as it gives a first-person account of what it's like to have this often devastating mental disorder.

It's not a clinical study, or a work of academic scholarship. But if you want to read the very personal story of someone suffering with schizophrenia this book might be just what the doctor ordered.

It wasn't the easiest book to follow. The way she explains some of her experiences are difficult to understand. Everything did come together in the end, however, because there is a section at the end of the book explaining some of her off-the-cuff symbolism. It was a rather odd book. It wasn't the worst book I've read, though.

I wasn't familiar with the ins and outs of schizophrenia. I thought this book gave a good insight on what it's like to have the disease. I did get lost in some of the translation and medical jargon.

Wasn't worth the $7 I paid for it. I thought it would be a more detailed account of her struggle but it's not. If your looking for a similar book to Sybil, this is by far not it.