Recovered, Not Cured: A Journey Through Schizophrenia [Paperback]

Richard McLean (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

This very personal exploration of schizophrenia explores each stage, from the early signs and reactions from friends and family to seeking help and the challenges of recovery. McLean bravely shares his paranoid delusions and offers both a verbal and a visual experience by including digital artwork he created to help objectify and control his impulses and fears. As McLean relates his experiences step by step, issues of sexuality, identity, and drug abuse are discussed, along with the overarching issues relating to mental health and the medical profession. Messages from online posters who either have suffered from mental illness or have cared for the mentally ill are included throughout, adding more perspectives to the author's personal experiences. This powerful combination of words and pictures provides a unique and poignant insight into a hidden, internal world.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The words in this small but mighty account verbalize the essence of mental illness, and McLean's graphic illustrations crank up the volume. The Australian's raw candor and stirring clarity in both words and images make this a rare nonfiction gem, with a power that grips the reader as if by the lapels. McLean's first recollections of paranoia come from adolescence, when he heard voices from the other side of the backyard fence. Soon he was picking up "messages" from automobile license plates, radios, and disembodied voices. Not unlike many who suffer from schizophrenia, to escape the torment of a constantly shifting reality, he self--medicated with the usual drugs of youth, alcohol and marijuana. Despite plunging ever deeper into mental illness, he managed to graduate from university, hold a job, and travel throughout Europe, thanks to the emotional support of family and friends, who often excused his bizarre episodes as personality quirks. Frequently at a loss to understand McLean, they nevertheless provided opportunities for him to conduct what he calls reality checks. The happy ending is that professional medical care has brought his illness under control, and he lives on his own. The price he pays is a life that is "less interesting" but offers hope for thousands who either suffer from mental illness or know someone who does. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"McLean’s style is uncompromisingly direct and matter-of-fact, with . . . detail that opens up the world of a schizophrenic’s thoughts." -- Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin; 1 edition (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1865089745
• ISBN-13: 978-1865089744
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Schizophrenia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For all interested in learning about schizophrenia, how to seek treatment and how to cope with it, July 15, 2006

By 

Simon Cleveland "Author of 'Descent: The R. C... (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Recovered, Not Cured: A Journey Through Schizophrenia (Paperback)

I stumbled accidentally on this book. Running a search through the online database at a local library branch, the title popped up on the screen. I cross-referenced it with the opinions of other readers from Amazon.com and decided it'd be an interesting overview of this incredible disease - schizophrenia.

I found out after checking the book out that it won the Australian Book of the Year for 2004, which intrigued me further. Having read it, I am also of the opinion that it deserves the award. The book is short and easy to read (in terms of narrative), but it reveals the complexities of the disease. The author narrates his experiences from the moments the symptoms appeared to the medication phase that restored order in his daily existence.

The book is written in snippets of experiences and often the reader is hurled one story after another of the patient's psychosis, paranoia, search for codes or deciphering of codes and secret messages, the delusions of voices the author heard and his reactions to them. In addition to these experiences, he inserts numerous e-mails from other schizophrenia patients he'd received or read on mental illness-online boards, as well as messages from family members of mental patients and how they coped with them. Since he is a graphics designer by trade, he'd added plenty of visual representations of his internal torments.

I recommend this book to all readers interested in learning about the symptoms of schizophrenia, how to seek treatment and how to learn to cope with the disease.

-by Simon Cleveland

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful and well put together, March 2, 2006

By 

jellyfish (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recovered, Not Cured: A Journey Through Schizophrenia (Paperback)

I read this book to get a better understanding of my brother, who is diagnosed schizophrenic and is obviously having a very hard time, though he rarely talks explicitly about what's happening to him. I was glad to stumble upon a book written by someone with schizophrenia (as opposed to a doctor or researcher). I think this 'inside view' has been really helpful in my coming to understand my brother better, so that I can be supportive towards him and catch warning signs of when he's entering a delusional episode.

I found this book to be very well written. It would likely be interesting even to people who don't have schizophrenic loved ones. The author has included his own artwork interspersed throughout the book as well as poems and notes he wrote while he was delusional. The artwork is very interesting, the poems and notes are a bit disturbing, as you'd expect.

It is heartening that though the author has a severe mental illness to deal with, he was able to put together such an excellent book.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick, interesting read, January 4, 2007

By 

A. Bennett "Library Lady" (Western Washington) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Recovered, Not Cured: A Journey Through Schizophrenia (Paperback)

I read this book to make a recommendation to the Psychology teacher at the high school where I am the librarian. The teacher created an assignment for her classes where groups of kids would read a book together on a psychological condition in a book group type setting. I read many books on all different types of conditions over a fairly short period of time and then selected twelve books or so for her students to read. This book made the cut. I thought it was a very accessible book on the topic of schizophrenia in terms of language and length for high school students.

I have talked to several of the students who were assigned this book and all seemed to think that the book did a good job explaining one person's story with schizophrenia without boring them with a lot of psychological/medical terminology.

I will recommend this book to students who come to my library wanting to learn about schizophrenia.