As a person who was also diagnosed with schizophrenia, (though I never heard voices), I found this a fascinating account of another person's journey from breakdown to recovery. The greatest strength of this book is the way in which the authors interwove the tyranny of the voices Ken Steele heard with the events of his life. The book gave me a clear understanding of how nightmarish it must be to live with a constant chorus of psychotic voices harassing you and insulting you from morning until night. Next, what struck me powerfully was the completely inhumane treatment Mr. Steele received from the mental health establishment. During the initial months of his first hospitalization Mr. Steele was locked up in isolation and given so much medication he couldn't move, not even to go to the bathroom. He peed and pooped where he was and attendants hosed him off to get him clean. Subsequently, in other hospitalizations he continued to be subjected to serious overdoses of medication. He was locked in seclusion rooms for extended periods of time, threatened and ultimately gang raped by other patients, and at one point locked in a closet for days on end. During the course of this book Ken Steele speculates that the cause of his illness was entirely biochemical and that his recovery took place solely as a consequence of the new medications he took later on in his life. But I felt that there was no way that his family life could not have had some influence on the outbreak and course of his illness. From the beginning it is clear that his parents have little interest in him, and that he is largely being brought up by his grandmother. When it became clear that he was suffering from a severe mental illness, his parents did nothing about it. And when he later ran into trouble and ended up hospitalized, his parents didn't even bother to visit him or concern themselves with his situation even though they were fully informed of what was happenening to him. When it came to Ken Steele's recovery, medication may have been a part of it, but it is indisputable that before he decided to take the medication, he had come to the point where he made the choice to be responsible for himself, to stop playing games and lying to himself and other people. In other accounts of people with mental illness, this moment of decision, the decision to take personal responsibility for oneself, is pivotal to any meaningful kind of recovery. And Ken made that recovery, and more than just recoverying, he went on to advocate for psychiatric patients such as himself and play a significant role in improving the lives of others. Suffering greatly, struggling greatly, recovering heroically, Ken Steele is without self pity, and through this book, continuing to give to others, even after his death.

I have schizoaffective dissorder and this book demonstrates just how bad this illness is. It's real and almost too real for me. The story is very moving. I could not put it down. Luckly today there are better meds then the ones Mr. Steele started with. I'm glad he had some peace in his life before he passed away.

This book is a must read for anyone who is related to or works with the mentally ill. It is a story that can help break down the stereotypes that the mentallly ill suffer under. The honesty that the author shares helps us all get a small glipse into the lives of the schizophrenic.

Claire Berman gives fabulous examples for all types of caregiver situations. The information is a valuable tool in handling a wide range of issues, from a parent's early needs, to full nursing care. The book aids caregivers with making medical and financial decisions for elderly parents and finding help in the community without jeopardizing your loved one's independence. In addition, it encourages the reader to find the right caregiver support group and keep a clear focus on your own family needs/priorities.

A most helpful book for reminding yourself how much your elderly parents would not want to be a burden to you, if they were still in their right minds. Lots of advice to make caregiving easier, well written, easy to read. Another great book is "Elder Rage" , which solves the nightmare dealing with difficult elders.

Although my mother has some serious health problems, she's still in her fifties, so I hesitated at first to read this book. I thought there was no way it could be relevant to adults whose parents are ill but not elderly. I was wrong. This book was a godsend as my siblings and I scrambled around trying to figure out what we needed to do and how we could do it. I've referred to it again and again, not just for practical help with my mom's needs, but emotional support for myself. What a tremendous resource this book is.

On an October night in 1962, the voices had arrived without a warning. Ken Steele was only fourteen years old. The voices told him to kill himself, that the world would be better off without him and that he was no good at all. Ken had been listening to the radio in his home in Connecticut and began to think he was in a nightmare but realized he was not asleep. He knew he could not tell his parents because he was already a big enough disappointment to them. Ken's father wanted him to play baseball and become a professional, Ken wanted to read and write. His parents were in denial and Ken was in and out of hospitals being diagnosed with schizophrenia. When he turned eighteen he moved to New York alone and began a publishing job. Ken was suicidal and had attempted many times to set himself afire, hang himself or jump off of a tall building. Finally Ken had been checked into Manhattan Psychiatric Center, where they evaluated and tried to help Ken Steele with his mental illness. Ken had spent thirty-two years of torture from inner voices demanding him to kill himself. In this inspiring novel, Ken tells the story of his recovery from schizophrenia, his insanity, paranoia and coping with the out-side world with schizophrenia. Ken Steele still had hope despite his insanity and mental illness; he yearned for a state of sanctuary and wanted to be helped. He died from heart failure on October 7th, 2000 and would have been fifty-two on October 9th.

Steele's book is one of the best I've seen on the subject. He tells us an insider's view of schizophrenia that is rarely portrayed so accurately. He does not tout a particular drug or a particular doctor, therapy, or procedure, which I feel is important because so many times an author credits a "miracle cure" for their recovery. There are many treatments for this illness and the appropriate one may differ from one person to another. I found I could identify with Ken in his quest to start living after thirty years of being out of commission, his drive to unite people with mental illnesses and improve conditions for us all. After I went through 18 years of mental illness and recovered, it seems there is a lot to do to make up for lost time. The memory of Ken Steele will stay with the reader for a long time, and so will his message.