Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful look at mental illness and alcoholism, February 14, 2007
Genre: Memoirs/Mental Health
Title: The Peaceful Warrior, Memoirs of a Damaged Mind and Soul
Author: Patrick J. Schnerch
This is not an easy read. Mental illness and addiction are the cynosure of this memoir of a survivor. The title is entirely apposite. This is indeed a battle and the hero a warrior.
Although his early years are happy and fulfilled on the farm, something haunts his memory; something that will drive him closer and closer to the brink of insanity and push him towards the forgetfulness of alcohol. As a young lad, his mother provides all the love and religious morals that a boy could hope for. His father is a hard working farmer that included Patrick in his daily life. So what happens to turn this happy little boy into a withdrawn, angry young man, who is often bullied? Even a stint in the armed forces, his childhood dream cannot ease his troubled mind. His wife is deeply affected by his mood swings and disappearances and yet she does not leave him. Perhaps she is the peaceful warrior.
Author, Patrick Schnerch shares his troubled life with readers. His unbalanced perceptions of reality enfold the reader into his world with disquieting ease. As a writer, he portrays the difficulties of living life as an alcoholic very graphically. Some of the writings included in the book from times when he was closest to the edge of sanity are very revealing.
This book is part therapy for the author and part documentation of living with a troubled mind. It will enlighten readers but may be disturbing to some. As stated, this book is not an easy read. Anyone searching for information and enlightenment on mental illness, bipolar disease or alcoholism will find this an excellent and insightful book.
Reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Reviews
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3.0 out of 5 stars
The Peaceful Warrior: Memoirs of a Damaged Mind and Soul, January 8, 2007
Non-fiction/Memoir
The Peaceful Warrior: Memoirs of a Damaged Mind and Soul
Patrick J. Schnerch
Trafford Publishing
ISBN 1-4120-9508-5
2006
210 pages
Soft cover $17.39
The Peaceful Warrior: Memoirs of a Damaged Mind and Soul is not a conventional book. Neither is the author. Patrick J. Schnerch is an advocate of the mentally ill in his native Canada and the author of the crime novel, Adrian. He is also living with bipolar disorder and alcoholism. In his memoir, Schnerch opens the door to his life and beacons the reader to view his struggle in the raw. It is the opportunity to see mental illness from the inside that most people, outside of mental health workers, are not privy to. It is also an act of courage.
"Alone, I would weep for death to come and take me. For over thirty years, death was very much welcome in my heart. Even today, the wish has not gone away." This book begins with the author recounting the events of his early life that lead to the manifestation of mental illness and the development of his dance with alcohol. After spending the first twelve years of his life living with the people he believed to be his parents, Schnerch is introduced to his biological father and mother. While his birth mother is not able to care for him as she suffers from mental illness herself, the author's biological father regains custody from the aunt and uncle who raised Schnerch from six months old and brings him to live with him after marrying. It is during this traumatic transition that the first signs of mental illness appear. Schnerch becomes isolated in a home where very little affection is shown and he begins a lifelong habit of self-mutilation in the form of cutting. From there he describes lengthy hospitalizations, foster care, a brief military stint, marriage, and submission to his illness.
The author's journey follows the same path as many who struggle with dual diagnosis: Symptoms emerge and a variety of diagnoses and hospitalizations with medication mixed in follow; then self-medication with alcohol and/or some illicit drug ensues. As the book continues, the easily followed recollection of life events is abandoned for journal writings that have been produced during psychotic or drunken episodes. In these passages, the author reveals delusions of grandeur and religious fixations. He also discusses the toll his illness and alcoholism has taken on his twenty-three year marriage. In Schnerch's disclosure, the denial that seems to go hand in hand with substance dependency is also apparent. Even though the author appears quite knowledgeable about his illness and the events that trigger his symptoms, he struggles with accepting the impact of alcohol in the cycle of wellness and decompensation.
The Peaceful Warrior: Memoirs of a Damaged Mind and Soul is not an easy read, particularly the passages that allow entry into the confusion and delusions associated with the author's bipolar disorder. While the audience for this book may not be the average recreational reader, for those who work with and provide daily care of the mentally ill and substance dependant, this book provides some insight into what the dually diagnosed are dealing with and why becoming well is a battle that must be fought on-going.
Melissa Levine
for Independent Professional Book Reviewers
www.bookreviewers.org
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