| Medical |
| Mental Health |
Summary
Summary
"...demonstrates the physical, psychological, and social harm resulting from the label schizophrenic and the continuous need to reexamine the underpinnings and attitudes of psychiatry."
-- Booklist
"Of all the books written about schizophrenia...none is more comprehensive, accurate, thorough, and clearer in style and statement than John Modrow's classic How to Become a Schizophrenic . Modrow, who is a recovered schizophrenic and is, perhaps, the unrecognized and unappreciated world's foremost authority on this disorder, has performed a truly invaluable service and has made the major contribution to our understanding of the causes and cures of this pseudodisease."
--Robert A Baker, Ph.D., former chairman of the Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky; author of They Call It Hypnosis, Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within and Mind Games: Are We Obsessed with Therapy?
"One of the best things I've read on the subject...I am struck by the richness of the ideas and the research and the soundness of the conclusions."
--Peter Breggin, M.D., founder and director of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology; author of Toxic Psychiatry and Talking Back to Prozac
"...a very important contribution to the field."
--Theodore Lidz, M.D., former chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University; author of The Origin and Treatment of Schizophrenic Disorders and Schizophrenia and the Family
"...well researched and easily readable (a difficult combination to achieve)!"
--Judi Chamberlin, author of On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System
"...meticulously challenges all the major research that claims that schizophrenia is a biological disorder."
--Ty C. Colbert, Ph.D., author of Broken Brains or Wounded Hearts: What Causes Mental Illness
"Before reading the book, I was largely convinced that schizophrenia was primarily a brain disease. Modrow has forced me to take a second look, however, and reconsider the psychological causes of the condition."
-- The Vancouver Sun
"...it is ennobling that despite bad and discouraging treatment he was able to understand himself and others, and share that acquired knowledge in an accurate and helpful way."
--Bertram P. Karon, PhD., professor of clinical psychology, Michigan State University; author of Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia
"...gives clear proof that there's real hope. Truly a remarkable book!"
--Alan Caruba, Bookviews
Reviews (1)
Booklist Review
Now in his late 40s, Modrow was labeled schizophrenic as a child. Having recovered from his problems in 1961, he argues that schizophrenia cannot be explained as a brain, biochemical, or genetic defect, or even as a disease. The medical model of it as a disease is accepted because it provides an explanation for the psychiatrist and comfort for the parent of a child so diagnosed. In considerable detail, Modrow narrates his early experiences with his family, with students, teachers, and administrators in school, and with several psychiatrists. A series of progressively worsening personality disorders in the generations preceding him culminated in Modrow's problems, but the major culprit in his case was his own disturbed family environment. Though often diffuse and repetitive, his book usefully demonstrates the physical, psychological, and social harm resulting from the label schizophrenic and the continuous need to reexamine the underpinnings and attitudes of psychiatry. ~--William Beatty
