Far Side of Madness [Paperback]

John Weir Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1974

Second Edition, with a new preface by John Beebe

When The Far Side of Madness was first published in 1974, John Weir Perry's deep insight into the nature of so-called “schizophrenia” opened the way for a radically new, more compassionate approach to this condition. This pioneering work of Jungian psychiatry reframes acute psychotic episodes in the context of visionary experience of schizophrenic patients and describes innovative methods of handling them.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Weir Perry was a Jungian psychiatrist and the author of many books, including The Self in Psychotic Process, The Heart of History, and Trials of the Visionary Mind. During the 1970s Perry founded an experimental residential facility called Diabasis, in Berkeley, California. This was designed as a comfortable home where young adults, who were experiencing the initial days of their first "acute schizophrenic break," could live in a supportive atmosphere and be empowered to go through the experience without any treatment by medication, electroshock or locked doors. He later wrote The Far Side of Madness, a book about Diabasis. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 177 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (January 1, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0133030245
• ISBN-13: 978-0133030242
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,101,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spooky!, July 12, 2007

By 

Ligia M. D. SPLENDORE "An Awakened One" (São Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Far Side of Madness (Paperback)

As someone who has passed through a serious "manic" crisis and consider it to be the most important, positive, life-changing event of my life I consider this book to be essential reading for anyone who has been diagnosed as mentally ill (schizophrenia, bi-polar, etc...). John Weir Perry's detailed account of the phases of "madness" one goes through on the way to healing mirrored my own in surprising detail. But perhaps most importantly, his methodology for treating individuals during their crisis is exactly the kind of treatment I would have hoped for, but never recieved. My own ability to "treat" myself without a psychiatrist probably saved my life, however, I know there are millions of people out there suffering needlessly due to the ignorance of the psychiatric profession, which Perry so eloquently describes.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars temenos, March 23, 2006

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Center For Depth Harris "Temenos" (Newport Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Far Side of Madness (Paperback)

The actual author of this text is John Weir Perry. John Beebe wrote the introduction. Anyway, this book is an excellent expose on the language of the psyche and how it produces symbolic images that are part of the healing process. Symbolic and abstract forms do not relate well to concrete thinkers, but the psyche keeps producing these images anyway. For those who who can and prefer to work with the symbolic life, there might be more here in this book than someone else's madness. This book is a good illustration of the symbolic healing process.

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful views on psychosis, terrible preface., September 17, 2011

By 

annieoftirol (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Far Side of Madness (Paperback)

I first read this book when it was published in 1974 and was presented to me by the author, whom I was privileged to know for many years.Dr. Perry describes his (a Jungian analyst's) compassionate view of young men and women in turmoil because of a psychotic episode and his launching of an innovative treatment program for these states of mind. The strongest point of the book is the author's obvious sincerety and true search for more integrative treatment of first episode psychosis. What I object to is the additon of John Beebe,MD as a 2nd author in this (2nd) edition,because he had nothing to do with the writing of the book and, to my knowledge, was never a close associate of Dr. Perry in this important work on schizophrenia/psychosis. Instead, Dr. Beebe adds a 'preface',written several years after Dr. Perry's death, which appears to be more of a criticism of the original author than an introduction to his work. It adds very little to the readers' appreciation of the high caliber of Dr. Perry's insights and creative thinking. I highly recommend this book to therapists, anyone undergoing or having undergone the turbulence of psychosis and everyone interested in analytical psychology and its possible practical applications even, or especially, today.