Radically Rethinking Mental Illness. Firewalkers chronicles the profound, turbulent, spiritual experience of living through a mental health crisis. What our society labels as "mental illness" can be a sacred quest that has the power to enrich us, reveal unknown strengths, and transform our lives. A note about buying this book: If you buy two copies, your shipping will be free! Please consider buying a second copy as a gift for a loved one, local library, agency, therapist waiting room, hospital, or anywhere else where you think a spark of fire can make a difference in this world. (all proceeds go to support our nonprofit community working for mental health hope, healing, and recovery) A guide to radically rethinking mental health, Firewalkers redefines mental illness as a journey of emotional turbulence, crazy blessings, ecstatic visions and mad gifts. Could it be that what we are diagnosing as mental illness is in fact a search for wholeness, balance, and meaning in a sometimes painful and irrational world? Firewalkers is the story of seven people who have experienced extreme mental states and through this experience, have learned things they never expected to learn and become people they never expected to be.
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
VOCAL is a mental health community, support network, social change movement and self-help education program. www.thefirebook.org.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book to Treasure and Share,
By
This review is from: Firewalkers: Madness, Beauty, and Mystery (Paperback)
This book is revolutionary in its expression of hope and victory for people confronting mental challenges. As a person diagnosed with bipolar disorder and a mental health advocate of many years, I found the descriptions of the mental experience profoundly moving and insightful, as well very accessible and fascinating. The individuals sharing their stories here are eloquent and positive, offering desperately needed ideas on surviving, coping, and achieving a measure of peace and happiness after facing horrific personal circumstances, This book is transforming my life by showing me the immense resiliency of the human spirit. I'm so proud of VOCAL (Virginia Organization of Consumers Asserting Leadership) for creating this book, a major contribution to the lives of mental people. Let me add that I feel the book will also serve to enlighten and touch service providers, family members, and anyone interested in the mental experience. The authors are speaking from the heart after witnessing the fire. Their words are treasure.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Profoundly moving,
By
This review is from: Firewalkers: Madness, Beauty, and Mystery (Paperback)
This is a profoundly moving book. It gives keen insight to those of us who have ever worked with or lived with people who are facing mental or emotional challenges. After reading this, I have a much better understanding of the diversity of the human experience. This is a book I will keep-- although I'll buy a second copy to loan out to friends who need to hear the hope in these stories. I was truly impressed.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most hopeful and humanistic look at mental illness,
This review is from: Firewalkers: Madness, Beauty, and Mystery (Paperback)
This book has forever changed my life in the most magical of ways. I have what would be labeled bipolar disorder by the people of society who would like everybody to fit snugly in a box (a.k.a. the majority of the population). When what I was struggling with was revealed by said in-the-box pushers, I felt deflated and defeated. Every book I read (and I read at least a dozen) made this sound like the most hopeless challenge. As a result, I felt broken and powerless.Then I read this book, and my life is now forever changed. The line in the beginning about those who bring light must risk being burned is now my mantra. It's true- the fire burns and I often want to run from it, but when I power over it, I have left an imprint, made an impact. I now have hope, peace, and love where I used to have hopelessness, despair, and anger. I am empowered now to live with the unique challenges placed upon me with an energy I thought was forever lost. I understand that although my life is extremely challenging at times for both me and those around me, I still have a lot to offer and much of what I have to offer is unique to me in a positive way rather than a burdensome way. More than any other book out there on this topic, "Firewalkers" provides a very potent, very accurate (perhaps a rather scary narrative to those not familiar with it) look inside mental illness. It is a great place to begin discussions both within and outside of the mental health field. This book teaches more in its pages than any textbook on the subject by not allowing the reader to forget that these are people and not mere, generic case studies. Thank you to the brave and brilliant who made this book possible and to all those equally brave and brilliant who face this reality daily. Bravo!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
