My Schizophrenic Life: The Road To Recovery From Mental Illness [Paperback]

Sandra Yuen MacKay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2010

Vancouver artist Sandra Yuen MacKay has an abnormality of the brain - a disease called schizophrenia. As she says, "my life is schizophrenic because I have schizophrenia. It will always be there". Much of her life has been a struggle to cope with the symptoms of her disease and the side effects of the medications required to keep those symptoms in check. Early in her life, Sandra started to exhibit the typical symptoms of this disease which came as a surprise to her unsuspecting family. Her book chronicles her struggles, hospitalizations, encounters with professionals, return to school, eventual marriage, and success as an artist, writer and advocate. "Remarkably compelling...the book takes on a life if its own...a gripping narrative" Library Journal "There are precious few people who have experienced psychosis and can convey it accurately, clearly,and concisely. Sandra MacKay's story is an important one for all of us in the mental health field --doctors, patients, and their families. It is imperative that we take in the lessons she is imparting to us all, on how to manage, and in many ways, triumph, over chronic mental illness." Julie Holland, MD author, Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER., New York city

Editorial Reviews

Review

While clumsily written and in dire need of a professional editor or perhaps even a ghostwriter, this volume is nonetheless remarkably compelling. The book takes on a life of its own as MacKay relates her lifelong struggles with severe mental illness. In particular, she illuminates the ways in which schizophrenic delusions can hijack one's life. MacKay vividly re-creates her world of schizophrenia, introducing readers to a whole new stratum of perception. Significantly, MacKay finds her salvation through art and writing, as she learns to capitalize on creative insights gleaned from her bouts with mental illness. Verdict MacKay's enlightening portrayal of her illness, hospitalizations, relationships, therapeutic activities, and quest for recovery will hold readers captive despite the elementary language and disjointed structure of the memoir. Like Kay Redfield Jamison's more eloquent An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness, this slight piece provides a surprisingly gripping narrative that will appeal to Jamison aficionados.--Lynne F. Maxwell, Villanova Univ. Sch. of Law Lib., PA -- Library Journal Advance on-line review, August 15, 2010

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Bridgeross Communications (August 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981003796
• ISBN-13: 978-0981003795
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #758,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sandra Yuen MacKay has a Fine Arts Diploma from Langara College and a Bachelor's degree in art history from the University of British Columbia. Her stories, articles and poetry are published in Front Magazine, The Bulletin (a mental health magazine), The Prairie Journal and other publications.

In My Schizophrenic Life: The Road to Recovery from Mental Illness, her memoir, she describes her struggle with schizoaffective disorder. Hell's Fire is a sic-fi novella.

She is a visual artist and speaker on mental illness. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. To view her blog, read reviews, listen to interviews, and find links to her art, visit: http://symackay.blogspot.com

Sandra is the recipient of the Coast Mental Health 2012 Courage to Come Back Award in the mental health category. Also she was chosen for the 2012 Faces of Mental Illness campaign held by the Canadian Alliance of Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH). In 2013, she received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational October 25, 2010

By Maria Savva

Format:Paperback

'My Schizophrenic Life' is a memoir about Sandra Yuen Mackay's experience of living with schizoaffective disorder. It is ultimately a book about how Sandra has coped with the illness and more importantly the lessons she has learnt from it and how she has been able to recover, although the author does still suffer from symptoms but has now been able to find a way to almost control the effects. The book is a fascinating and compelling story giving valuable insight of the view of the world from the perspective of someone with a mental illness. Sandra's story will definitely benefit anyone who may be currently living with a diagnosis or suffering from any type of mental illness, as Sandra has described how she was able to seek help and find different techniques to stop or reduce the severity of some of her symptoms. This book will also help anyone living with or caring for a relative or friend who may be suffering from schizoaffective disorder.

Sandra has told the story of her 30 year battle with the illness. At first she was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. It highlights the fact that mental illness is something that is very difficult to diagnose, as there are many different symptoms and each individual suffers in different ways; the triggers for the symptoms will vary from person to person.

In many ways this book is important as it breaks down a barrier of ignorance about mental illness. Here we are told a story by a very intelligent, creative woman who works as an artist and writer and has used her experience of suffering with this disorder to help others, by taking part in talks and public speaking.

Sandra's symptoms began when she was a teenager, and I found it fascinating to read about the way she would hear and see things that were not there and have profound delusions and paranoia. In some ways there are so many things from Sandra's memories of her teenage years that everyone could relate to. Paranoid feelings, delusion and depression are things that we have all felt to some degree in our lives, but the way these things would manifest in Sandra's mind shows just how frail our vision of reality can be and how easily it can be distorted when there is a chemical imbalance in the brain causing mental illness.

By reading Sandra's story I personally feel that I have learnt a great deal about how Schizophrenia can affect someone's life, and her story has illuminated for me a subject which seems to carry an unworthy stigma. I have always believed that mental illness is just like any other illness and yet the mentally ill are generally feared and treated as if it is almost their fault that they have this illness. I felt that the way many of Sandra's therapists spoke to her when she was a teenager showed a general ignorance about mental illness.

Sandra Yuen Mackay's book is very important as a bridge to understanding how a mentally ill person feels. She is a great advocate and has put her story across in a way that is compelling and easy to understand. I would recommend this book to everyone. Its worth is not only in helping to dispel certain myths surrounding mental illness, but it's also the story of a person who has overcome great adversity and is now successful and an example to us all.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching and Honest September 30, 2010

By J. Knox

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a very straightforward, honest and personal account of one woman's battle with schizophrenia.
As a person who has seen what this illness has done to people I love, I was particularly drawn-in by the subject matter, and I am therefore probably extremely biased. That said, there's no denying that MacKay wrote a very enduring and important book about the topic, one will strike an emotional cord and open the eyes of those of us who are currently not afflicted with the disease. A memoir that raises empathy and tells a good story always has my support

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Message of Hope October 17, 2010

By STUART MCCALLUM

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sandra Yuen Mackay's memoir, `My Schizophrenic Life' is a courageous and moving story of living with the (seldom written about) mental illness schizophrenia. The author does a wonderful job of sweeping the reader into her world, beginning with the confusion as a teenager when the illness entered her life, through the many challengers of trying to cope while living in the anomalous world of schizophrenia.

Having experienced psychosis as a direct result from epileptic seizures, I was personally drawn into the content. I found the story easy to follow and informative. For anyone who would like to know what it's like to live each day with a metal illness, I highly recommend, Sandra Yuen Mackay's brave and ultimately uplifting story.