Mad house : growing up in the shadow of mentally ill siblings
In Mad House, Clea Simon combines the story of her brother's and sister's schizophrenia with accounts of other siblings who have witnessed the tragic consequences of mental illness in their families. For Clea Simon, the experience was shattering when her beloved older brother Daniel, a brilliant Harvard freshman, started hearing voices and subsequently dropped out of school, the onset of schizophrenia making it impossible for him to function. The same illness then claimed her sister Katherine, who has since bounced around from one state institution to another, after refusing any assistance from Clea or her parents. Mad House exposes the issues "well" siblings face, which run the gamut from guilt (Why do I deserve to be OK?); to fear (What are the chances that I have this disease, or that my children may inherit it?); to the burden of caring for a sibling (Am I my brother's keeper?); and finally to overcompensating within the family - or its converse, acting destructively to get attention. In talking to hundreds of other siblings, and to experts in the field, Simon has written a comprehensive book that combines the best of memoir writing with the kind of practical advice that should ease the pain of any brother or sister who has felt helpless in the face of a sibling's mental illness
Personal Narrative
viii, 215 pages ; 22 cm
9780385478526, 0385478526
34974535