The Seduction of Madness: Revolutionary Insights into the World of Psychosis and a Compassionate Approach to Recovery at Home

by Edward M. Podvoll

Depicts the inner experience of mental illness, and demonstrates the potential for home recovery without drug dependence

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1990

Reviews

[John Desmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

As someone who has experienced psychosis themselves and has spent 55 years studying everything and anything related to the workings of the mind and mental health and worked, in the 70s, in a mental institution can l give my reason for only awarding this book 2 stars:

Practically all of the given examples of psychosis are induced, including those of the author, by means of various drugs, severe and unnatural deprivation and exposure to extreme risk taking (just to mention a few).

I except psychosis has a 'trigger' yet to be fully understood, but to utilise such extreme examples via their 'manufactured intent' as this author chooses to do, is not compatible with the full, experienced truth of psychosis according to the majority of those affected by it.

It's like setting the words of a hunger striker up against an anorexic - patronising and not at all inclusive.

Psychosis is fundamentally tied to a singular and personal part of each individual. Its remit is to be fracious, compelling and uniquely attuned to the individual.

This book fails to recognise that.