The book Girl, Interrupted was much better than the movie, I thought. It’s a series of vigniettes that are essentially chronological. The thing I found most interesting is that the author seems to vacillate between “I was crazy” and “I wasn’t crazy”, but how can you tell?
Another good one is Just Checking by Emily Colas. The amazon reviews are pretty mixed, but I liked it. It’s a woman writing about her OCD and I thought it was interesting and funny. Anyway, ISBN = 0671024388 and you can look it up.
Actually, no, don’t forget the movie. It’s one of my all-time favorite films. There are a lot of changes, true, mainly that the movie is set during Vietnam and the book is set during WWII (iirc). The movie can’t show Birdy’s inner life very well, so here’s what I recommend.
Watch the movie, then read the book, then watch the movie again. That’s how I did it, and it was perfect. If you read the book after watching the movie, you’ll have Nicolas Cage, Matthew Modine and Bruno Kirby in your mind as you read, then when you see the movie again, you’ll have Birdy’s rich and complex inner life as background.
I know the book is better, but I truly love the movie. I only saw it for Peter Gabriel’s amazing soundtrack, but then fell in love with the film and the book. To me Birdy is the perfect mesh of book, film and soundtrack.
I’m trying to think of the name of an incredible book written by a high-functioning autistic. It’s a fascinating look at the inner life of an autistic. It’s been years since I read it, but she was abused, or at least neglected, perhaps both. She said (wildly paraphrasing of course) that that might have been the best thing for her, since it forced her to become more independent than she might have otherwise become.
Does anyone remember?
This is NOT about mental illness, but one of my favorite books while growing up was called Karen, a non-fiction book about a girl with cerebral palsy, written by her mother.
His notes on patients were at home, apparently not locked up (violates HIPAA and patient confidentiality ethics).
His wife and children are both familiar with his patients’ cases, at least Prott’s (").
You don’t take patients home with you for a social gathering under any circumstances, but especially while they’re committed and pose a potential danger to self or others. (client welfare).
The treatment (sic) provided is absolutely not appropriate and would cost you your license, especially if it were determined that you’d been advised by a knowledgeable professional that you were exceeding a limit.
The socializing-with-patients thing occurs in many films–The Prince of Tides (Oh, it’s okay, you’re not my client, you’re my client’s brother with whom I’m conducting professional sessions) and Mr. Jones (Oh, it’s okay, you’re so cute and persitant that I just can’t say no!). But it’s a really excellent way for a therapist to suddently need a new profession.
That’s precisely my problem with the movie. Gabriel’s soundtrack is great (and allow me to plug his sundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ, which is even better), but what separates a very good movie, from a great piece of literature is the narration of Birdy’s innerlife, which sucks you, the reader, in, to the point were you’re not really sure what reality is true. It’s very accomplished writing and literature with a capital L. No movie could achieve that, because of the limitations of the media.
I can’t get over how many of these that I’ve already seen or read. Yay me!
Of the ones that are left, I’ll be adding The Quiet Room, Oliver Sacks, *I Know This Much Is True * (how’d I miss this??), Hurry Tomorrow, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, Just Checking (which sounds amazing!), and Spider. AH3, could you tell me more about the film?
I know I’ve seen parts of The Madness of King George and I’m not sure about I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. We’ll see.
Oh, and Jean Poutine, I grew up with Paul Zindel being one of my absolute favoritest authors! Your mention has me going off to Google him.
Thanks everyone! Keep those suggestions coming.
The accuracy is debatable (the main character’s sister IRL says the portrayal of their father is desperately unfair, among other difficulties), but if you’re going to count Sybil and When Rabbit Howls, you should have no problem with Shine.
> I thought A beautiful Mind did a good job of portraying just how real a
> schizophrenics delusions are to him or her. This is something a lot of people
> don’t get.
The movie A Beautiful Mind is extremely inaccurate, and one of the ways in which it is inaccurate is its portrayal of John Nash’s delusions. The movie changed the nature of Nash’s schizophrenia to make it more “cinematic”. The book that it is made from (also called A Beautiful Mind) will give you a much better idea of what Nash was actually experiencing.
It’s also a very clever take on the Whodunnit genre as the book begins with the boy trying to solve a mystery. I second this reccomendation. It doesn’t run much more than 200 pages if memory serves right.
I suppose that I should clarify and say, that although I asked for “accurate” portrayals, in my mind that kind of parsed out to be ‘whatever tangentially might apply to being crazy.’ So, no one please worry about whether or not it’s up to standards. I’m undoubtedly interested in it all.
Oh, and for those who’ve slipped in since my last posting, I have seen Shine, and I’m pretty sure about Iris, but don’t hold me to that. And of course, no previously suicidal person could not have read Plath. She definitely did have a knack for speaking to the wounded heart.
The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon is awesome! It’s a comprehensive look at Major Depression. It starts with a first-person narrative of the author’s own “breakdown,” and continues with a veritable treasure-trove of information about the history, treatments, causes and contributing factors of depresssion. Lots of cites, lots of interviews and anecdotes - good stuff! If you or someone you’re close to has depression, you have to check it out!
The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity by Mark Vonnegut. A autobiographical account of the onset of schizophrenia and the beginning of recovery. It’s very good and, from what I’ve heard, a very accurate portrayal of schizophrenia from the inside.
I’m short on time so these recommendations are incomplete -
anyway - William Styron wrote an excellent memoir dealing with his experience with depression.
Many YA (Young Adult) novels have excellent portrayals of characters with mental illness. “Looking for Alaska” is one; “A Solitary Blue” is another.
In the movie “Benny & Joon” the mentally ill woman and her behavior are portrayed realistically, though the film is not realistic in its treatment of her plight.
I agree–a really good read. It was out of print; not sure if it’s back in. FWIW, I’m pretty sure that these days he’d be diagnosed with Bipolar II, not schizophrenia.
I don’t remember that scene at all. When was it? Of course, River’s mental problems were literally manufactured, and probably don’t resemble any real-world condition at all.
And while I’m here, I’ll mention the play/movie Proof. I’m not sure exactly what the DSM-IV name for the father’s condition would be, though I imagine it would be some variant of schizophrenia. I’m no psychologist, but it felt very real to me.
I’m undoubtedly interested in it all.