Bears in the Plum Tree

by Gabriel Horn

Bears In The Plum Tree is a funny but frighteningly real account of how a mental hospital is typically run in America. Dr. Rex West, the novel¡¯s lead character, shows why three thousand years after King Saul went bananas and billions spent on research, malpractice and charlatanism prevail in treating mental illness. Malpractice and charlatanism begin the moment truth is ignored in treating any medical malady. Mental illness is the number one problem in America today because of this. The latest national survey shows half this nation is mentally ill. Mental illness is a plague upon America and a first-year philosophy student could say why. Why do pharmaceutical houses never claim medicine cures mental illness? Why do Pollyannas think it does? Any one can read Bears In The Plum Tree and know why mental illness cannot possibly be caused by a chemical imbalance produced by stress combined with a person¡¯s genetics. Yet the prevalence of this absurd belief is t reason four people in this book died and another remained the victim of seduction by a priest. Despite these facts Dr. Rex West prevails in treating mental illness with a group of adolescents and an outpatient. Everything he accomplished was the result of imparting the truth about what causes mental illness.

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002