BOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW

As I was searching socialworktalent.net for a practicum placement last semester, I read through some of the requirements of other placements for mental health. I think it was a placement at Midtown Mental Health Clinic under the supervision of Dr. Moody which required students to read this book. I did not choose the practicum placement with Dr. Moody, but knowing I would be working with severely mentally ill patients, thought this book would be a great help in understanding the mind of a schizophrenic. My prediction was very accurate.

This book, The Quiet Room, re-tells the true story of Lori Schiller and her own encounters with schizophrenia. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the field of mental health, or anyone who has directly or indirectly been affected in some way by schizophrenia.

I did not write the following paragraph, rather copied it from the back of the book. I thought it sums up the story beautifully. The back of the book reads, "At seventeen Lori Schiller was the perfect child--the only daughter of an affluent, close-knit family. Six years later she made her first suicide attempt, then wandered the streets of New York City dressed in ragged clothes, tormenting voices crying out in her mind. Lori Schiller had entered the horrifying world of full-blown schizophrenia. She began an ordeal of hospitalizations, halfway houses, relapses, more suicide attempts, and constant, withering despair. But against all odds, she survived. Now in this personal account, she tells how she did it, taking us not only into her own shattered world, but drawing on the words of the doctors who treated her and family members who suffered with her. Moving, harrowing, and ultimately uplifting, THE QUIET ROOM is a classic testimony to the ravages of mental illness and the power of perseverance and courage."

Spending long hours within the cement walls of Larue Carter Memorial Hospital, I found it almost eery the parallels between "Lori's world" and the world of Larue's patients. The way she talked, the way she thought, the medicines she was taking, the lingo and procedures of the nursing staff... all the same. I enjoyed reading the testimonies from Lori's family. I get to see some of the patients' families about once a month, but never get to spend too much time really talking with them, and understanding where they are in their minds. This book painted a much clearer picture of that for me.