The Day the Voices Stopped: A Schizophrenic's Journey from Madness to Hope (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author) "THE VOICES ARRIVED without warning on an October night in 1962, when I was fourteen years old..." (more)
Key Phrases: delusional voices, mental health consumers, ground privileges, New York, Fountain House, Harlem Valley (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the age of 14, mental health advocate Steele battled the ruthless barrage of voices and hallucinations of schizophrenia. His arduous 32-year struggle is chronicled in this memoir, written with journalist Berman (What Am I Doing in a Step-Family?). Despite his parents' initial reluctance to admit the seriousness of his disorder, Steele, who died last year of heart failure, understood early on that his condition was pushing him ever closer to suicide. Only reading and writing provided him a haven, offering him flights of imagination that temporarily quieted the voices. Instead of seeking proper treatment, his family allowed him to drop out of school and stay idle at home, where he only got sicker. He tried to move to New York from Connecticut; to attend theater school, only to end up in a mental ward, the first of several hospitalizations. Steele then descended into alcoholism, homelessness and exploitation by male hustlers. After AA meetings, drugs, shock treatments and repeated hospitalizations, he eventually triumphed over the illness to fashion a new life. Many readers will be emotionally drained by the time he becomes a nationally recognized spokesman for the rights of the mentally ill and the publisher of New York City Voices, a publication heralding that cause. Steele's sobering yet resonant and inspiring narrative refuses to sugarcoat the tremendous force of this disorder and its stubborn resistance to recovery. (May) Forecast: Advertising in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times should help this book find its audienceschizophrenics and their families, policy makers, mental health professionals and anyone who cares about the mentally ill.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In 1995, Steele, a schizophrenic, began taking a new antipsychotic medication. Suddenly, the voices that had tormented him for 32 years were silenced. In this posthumous memoir (Steele died of heart failure last year), he describes the paranoia and delusions that afflicted him as he wandered across the United States. He also chronicles his post-medication triumphs: after reading a politician's letter about how the mentally ill don't vote, Steele went on to become a leading activist for the mentally ill, organizing a voter registration campaign in halfway houses and treatment centers. As publisher of New York City Voices: A Consumer Journal for Mental Health Advocacy, Steele encouraged those with mental illnesses to share their stories, and some of these personal accounts are included in the book's final section. Through Steele's eyes, readers see the changes in psychiatric treatment from incarceration in mental asylums to integration into the community made possible by a support network of halfway houses, club houses, clinics, and advocacy programs. In an afterword, Steele discusses recent changes in mental health policy and treatment and outlines future needs if the mentally ill are to become fully functioning members of society. This remarkable, well-written, and inspiring memoir is recommended for all collections. Lucille Boone, San Jose P.L., CA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1 edition (May 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465082270
• ISBN-13: 978-0465082278
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #80,820 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suffering But Not Self-Pitying, February 3, 2003

By	Elizabeth A. Richter (Canton, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Day the Voices Stopped: A Memoir of Madness and Hope (Hardcover)

As a person who was also diagnosed with schizophrenia, (though I never heard voices), I found this a fascinating account of another person's journey from breakdown to recovery. The greatest strength of this book is the way in which the authors interwove the tyranny of the voices Ken Steele heard with the events of his life. The book gave me a clear understanding of how nightmarish it must be to live with a constant chorus of psychotic voices harassing you and insulting you from morning until night. Next, what struck me powerfully was the completely inhumane treatment Mr. Steele received from the mental health establishment. During the initial months of his first hospitalization Mr. Steele was locked up in isolation and given so much medication he couldn't move, not even to go to the bathroom. He peed and pooped where he was and attendants hosed him off to get him clean. Subsequently, in other hospitalizations he continued to be subjected to serious overdoses of medication. He was locked in seclusion rooms for extended periods of time, threatened and ultimately gang raped by other patients, and at one point locked in a closet for days on end. During the course of this book Ken Steele speculates that the cause of his illness was entirely biochemical and that his recovery took place solely as a consequence of the new medications he took later on in his life. But I felt that there was no way that his family life could not have had some influence on the outbreak and course of his illness. From the beginning it is clear that his parents have little interest in him, and that he is largely being brought up by his grandmother. When it became clear that he was suffering from a severe mental illness, his parents did nothing about it. And when he later ran into trouble and ended up hospitalized, his parents didn't even bother to visit him or concern themselves with his situation even though they were fully informed of what was happenening to him. When it came to Ken Steele's recovery, medication may have been a part of it, but it is indisputable that before he decided to take the medication, he had come to the point where he made the choice to be responsible for himself, to stop playing games and lying to himself and other people. In other accounts of people with mental illness, this moment of decision, the decision to take personal responsibility for oneself, is pivotal to any meaningful kind of recovery. And Ken made that recovery, and more than just recoverying, he went on to advocate for psychiatric patients such as himself and play a significant role in improving the lives of others. Suffering greatly, struggling greatly, recovering heroically, Ken Steele is without self pity, and through this book, continuing to give to others, even after his death.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Day the Voices Stopped, August 26, 2002

By	Julie Greene (Watertown, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Steele's book is one of the best I've seen on the subject. He tells us an insider's view of schizophrenia that is rarely portrayed so accurately. He does not tout a particular drug or a particular doctor, therapy, or procedure, which I feel is important because so many times an author credits a "miracle cure" for their recovery. There are many treatments for this illness and the appropriate one may differ from one person to another. I found I could identify with Ken in his quest to start living after thirty years of being out of commission, his drive to unite people with mental illnesses and improve conditions for us all. After I went through 18 years of mental illness and recovered, it seems there is a lot to do to make up for lost time. The memory of Ken Steele will stay with the reader for a long time, and so will his message.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sound of Silence, The Voice of Hope, October 8, 2005

By	BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Ken Steele had his first psychotic break replete with auditory hallucinations in October of 1962 when he was 14. Considering the world's collective madness involving the threat of nuclear war and having children cower under desks in schools, madness abounded in those days. Ken Steele's was sadly adolescent onset pychosis as opposed to the mass hysteria that was the order of the day. He was first hospitalized following that episode.

Steele's mental illness included paranoia; he feared going out in public and thought others were talking about him. When Steele's brother Joe was born in 1964, he felt further alienated from his family. On January 2, 1966 Steele left his home for good. Sadly, he served time in and out of hospitals for the next 15 years.

In 1974, one door opened. Steele, calling home from an institution out of state received his first invitation home in nearly a decade. Sadly, this visit did not pan out and he was back in the throes of mental forces he could not control.

In 1991, Steele's luck changed for the better. He was well matched with a Brooklyn therapist named Rita Seiden who responded to him with compassion. I like the way she explained his mental illness to him and treated him with respect at all times. He was referred to a Dr. Casimir in 1994 who prescribed Risperdal. Steele began taking it in November of 1994 and on May 3, 1995, his voices stopped. For the first time since 1962 he was free of auditory hallucinations.

While working with Dr. Casimir, Steele took up the banner of securing the vote for mentally ill persons. His contention that "mentally ill does not mean mentally incompetent" was on target. In late 1994, he began working tirelessly to secure that right for people with mental illnesses. In the late 1990s, Steele became a publisher of "New York City Voices: A Consumer Journal for Mental Health Advocacy" and an editor of a monthly newsletter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and spoke on behalf of the National Mental Health Association's "Partners In Care." One thing that comes through quite plainly in this book is that Ken Steele was a truly good man. A truly good man. This book will touch many hearts.

Sadly, Steele never met his brother's children. His voice was stilled on October 7, 2000. This book might make you cry, but Ken Steele will certainly inspire you. His was a life etched in pain, emphasized by his compassion and his tireless quest to help others in his shoes. Reading this book will leave an indelible impression on all readers.

God bless Ken Steele.