Elyn Saks Books

A much-praised memoir of living and surviving mental illness as well as "a stereotype-shattering look at a tenacious woman whose brain is her best friend and her worst enemy" (Time). Elyn R. Saks is an esteemed professor, lawyer, and psychiatrist and is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, Psychiatry, and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Law School, yet she has suffered from schizophrenia for most of her life, and still has ongoing major episodes of the illness. The Center Cannot Hold is the eloquent, moving story of Elyn's life, from the first time that she heard voices speaking to her as a young teenager, to attempted suicides in college, through learning to live on her own as an adult in an often terrifying world. Saks discusses frankly the paranoia, the inability to tell imaginary fears from real ones, the voices in her head telling her to kill herself (and to harm others), as well as the incredibly difficult obstacles she overcame to become a highly respected professional. This beautifully written memoir is destined to become a classic in its genre.

Highly articulate and self-aware, Elyn Saks offers a moving insight into the world of a schizophrenic. This compelling account will bring hope to sufferers and understanding to all.

Why do we find multiple personality disorder (MPD) so fascinating? Perhaps because each of us is aware of a dividedness within ourselves: we often feel as if we are one person on the job, another with our families, another with our friends and lovers. We may fantasize that these inner discrepancies will someday break free, that within us lie other personalities - genius, lover, criminal - that will take us over and render us strangers to our very selves. What happens when such a transformation literally occurs, when an alter personality surfaces and commits some heinous deed?

Mé putování šílenstvím. Autorka popisuje ohromnou výzvu, kterou pro ni představuje boj s duševní chorobou. Velmi dobře ví, jaké to je být opravdu šílená, tedy věřit, že vaše myšlenky dokážou zabíjet, že vaši blízcí jsou podvodníci, kteří se proti vám spikli. Ví, jaké to je, když se téměř nemůžete nadechnout, když jste nacpaní léky až k prasknutí, když cítíte, jak se vaše já rozpadá, vzdaluje a nakonec úplně mizí. Přesto je však přesvědčena, že pro ni její diagnóza nebude rozsudkem smrti. Ve své knize vypráví příběh dlouhého boje se schizofrenií. Vzhledem k tomu, že musí čelit psychotickým atakám, je neuvěřitelné, že si dokázala vybudovat úspěšnou akademickou kariéru. V této knize se snaží porozumět své nemoci, proti níž bojuje, ale zároveň usiluje o to, aby ji dokázala přijmout jako součást sebe samé.