Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My brother has this disease and by the Grace of God he is almost 66 years old. It is a nasty and insidious disease. It is so nasty that few people talk about it openly. Yet there are 2.2 million Americans with it and many of these folks are on the streets. For those close relatives who are mentally heathy I would recommend reading this well-written history of a family where six of the twelve siblings developed the desease and the other six siblings were terrorized by the disease. The healthy siblings were obviously thinking "Will I be next ?" This book details the Galvin's family's descent into Schizophrenia hell that the well and the affected family members experienced. Nobody should have this terrible experience but they endured it and for the most part survived. When my brother started to slide into this mental illness abyss my family did not understand what was occurring. I survived as a younger sibling too; though it was not easy. It was like watching the movie The Exorcist which came out in 1972. Your family member is seeing devils and demons although you don't see them. Getting a sick person medical attention who has no awareness that there is something radically wrong with their mind is nearly an impossible task. In their minds you are the sick people and they are OK. Also because of our law and court system you many times cannot get help for people in the early stages of the disease unless they are a danger to themselves or other people. It is an absurd law system in America where someone has to hit bottom before they can be treated at a hospital. If we could treat people in the early phases so much anguish would be avoided and lives saved. Lawyers this is your doing. Perhaps when enough lawyers and judges have their families afflicted with this terrible illness the laws will be changed. In the meantime we must endure this terrible ordeal. Why did my brother get it and I didn't ? He did have a head injury when he got hit with a car when he was eight and that is a reason. But most schizophrenics (about 70 %) have no family history of the disease. Usually Schizophrenia can be classified into three different groups. Those that respond well to treatment. They will have nearly normal lives. Those that are in a middle category where they can stay in a boarding home and follow the rules for long periods of time before they relapse. My brother was fortunately in this second group. And those that do not respond at all and do not cooperate. The last category are the ones you see on the streets of the big cities talking, yelling or fighting unseen demons. Their families are unable to handle them for long periods. These people are enormously stressful to be around when they are not on their medications. Furthermore, nothing can compare to the experience of trying to manage a schizophrenic to keep them on their medications. It is huge task and wears caregivers out. Yes it is an extreme conumdrum of provided care to someone who does realize they are sick and will not cooperate to take their medications. The good news is that there have been some good medications developed in the last thirty years such as Clozipine which provides some stability and clear mindedness whereby their hallucinations and voices subside. My brother tried Clozapine but he was one of the 1 % or so who had a bad reaction to it. Talk about bad luck. He did fairly well on Prolixin though I highly recommend this book about the Gatlin family experience in Colorado to get some insight as to what happens to a family through nobody's fault. The best defense against this disease is to learn as much about the disease as you can. Read the book by E Fuller Torrey, M.D. "Surviving Schizophrenia". Dr. Torrey's sister had schizophrenia and he has dedicated his life to finding a cure and ways of prevention. Get educated on the prevention methods. Do not become socially isolated. And most importantly get help as soon as you see the signs in the prodromal stage (I.e. early stages when they seem pretty normal). The early signs can be very subtle. Most schizophrenics are not violent. And have lots and lots of courage and patience. God Speed.