Elyn Saks Graduated From Yale Law School, And Is A Professor

The book “The center cannot hold: My Journey Through Madness” written by Elyn Saks is a gripping and eye opening story about her personal battle with the lifetime sentence of Schizophrenia. The book starts out by telling about her childhood in Miami Florida. She lived a normal life, for the most part, with a normal family who loved and supported her. Though even from an early age she knew something was off. She was a quirky, paranoid girl who almost seemed at times to have obsessive-compulsive disorder. She often thought people were outside her house waiting to come in and abduct her.

At one point she describes laying on the bed and "follow[ing] that pattern about by the hour . . . I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of conclusion" (Gilman 429).

Moreover, she was recognized for her work with the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression in 2007. Included with her awards was the title of “Hero of Medicine” by Time magazine in 1997. Throughout this time of awards and accreditation, she also took the role of co-director of the Mood Disorders Center since the year 2005. In addition to her professional standing at Johns Hopkins, she also frequently travels to Scotland where she works at the University of St. Andrews as a professor of English and Neurophysiology.

Many doctors are not for sure what causes schizophrenia but they have many ideas about what causes it.

These words are the description of schizophrenia, written by a woman who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Elyn Saks. Her

Throughout the many years, there have been many negative public perceptions of Schizophrenia, which is known by majority of the public as an indication of mental illness. This disorder is most of the time perceived by the public as caused by psychological factors. People with this mental illness are considered to be unpredictable and threatening (Angermeyer & Matschinger, 2003, p. 526). Most patients have a behavioural dysfunction. Victims, families and society carry a substantial burden due to this illness (Wood & Freedman, 2003).

It is not hard to find depictions of people living with poorly treated schizophrenia. The first treatment for schizophrenia was discovered 50 years ago by accident and treatment has remained largely unchanged since then (Moghaddam & Javitt, 2012). The documentary film from 1996, “Back from Madness: A struggle for sanity” in part depicts a woman named Naomi, who in many ways exhibits the traditional onset of symptoms and subsequent treatment. She was a college aged woman at the time, who seemingly randomly began “hearing voices from the sky”. She chose to seek help and was prescribed clozapine, which is considered to be the most effective antipsychotic currently on the market (Moghaddam & Javitt, 2012). When this treatment was shown to be uneffective, Naomi

Additional, inferences about the disorder are provided by Whitcomb and Merrell (2013). The authors characterize the symptoms of schizophrenia as delusions that are “typically bizarre and implausible” and pronounced hallucinations such as hearing voices for long periods of time (p. 363). Additional, impairments noted by the authors include “severe disturbances in perception, thought and affect, a severe decline in personal and social functioning, poor personal hygiene, inability to function effectively at school or work, and a severe impairment in social relationships” (Whitcomb and Merrell, 2013 p.363).

Schizophrenia is a chronic, lifetime mental disorder that cannot be cured, but can be effectively treated and managed. Research conducted in developed countries revealed that about 20 to 35 percent of patients undergo a rapid improvement when treated. Approximately, 70 percent of the patients suffer a relapse of acute symptoms within the next 2 to 5 years after being discharged from hospital. The risk of relapse usually decreases 10 years after the initial onset.

For this literature review, I decided to read an autobiographical novel called “The Center Cannot Hold” at the suggestion of my individual supervisor at Sharp Mesa Vista, who said it was the best first-hand account of schizophrenia that she had ever read. The novel tells the story of Elyn Saks’ lifelong struggle with schizophrenia.

Dr. Saks challenges the stereotypes associated with schizophrenia by her success. Earlier when she was diagnosed, she was told that she wouldn’t be able to achieve the success that she had. Just because you have schizophrenia does not mean that you have to accept a certain fate.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects millions of people and it should not be underestimated or ignored.

(Szasz,1982, p.4, p.29) In 1900, the term schizophrenia, now used worldwide, was used to describe the condition that one out of every hundred people had. This statistic remains the same today. Through research and years of study, the world has a better understanding of schizophrenia, its forms, characteristics, symptoms, types, possible causes, and treatments, if any. ( Pierce, 1990. p.263 )

Approximately 22% of the American population suffers from some kind of mental disorder at any given time. (Passer and Smith, 2004) Schizophrenia is one of the most serious of these mental disorders, and there are many different kinds of treatment. While all mental disorders offer diagnosis and treatment challenges, few are more challenging than schizophrenia. It is both bizarre and puzzling, and has been described as “one of the most challenging disorders to treat effectively.” (Passer and Smith, 2004, 534)

Susannah Cahalan’s case would have been very different if she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder is which the person is unable to properly control their emotion and thoughts