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Stalking Irish Madness: Searching for the Roots of My Family's Schizophrenia
In this powerful, sometimes harrowing, deeply felt story, Patrick Tracey journeys to Ireland to track the origin and solve the mystery of his Irish-American family's multigenerational struggle with schizophrenia.
For most Irish Americans, a trip to Ireland is often an occasion to revisit their family's roots. But for Patrick Tracey, the lure of his ancestral home is a much more powerful need: part pilgrimage, part investigation to confront the genealogical mystery of schizophrenia–a disease that had claimed a great-great-great-grandmother, a grandmother, an uncle, and, most recently, two sisters.
As long as Tracey could remember, schizophrenia ran on his mother's side, seldom spoken of outright but impossible to ignore. Devastated by the emotional toll the disease had already taken on his family, terrified of passing it on to any children he might have, and inspired by the recent discovery of the first genetic link to schizophrenia, Tracey followed his genealogical trail from Boston to Ireland's county Roscommon, home of his oldest-known schizophrenic ancestor. In a renovated camper, Tracey crossed the Emerald Isle to investigate the country that, until the 1960s, had the world's highest rate of institutionalization for mental illness, following clues and separating fact from fiction in the legendary relationship the Irish have had with madness.
Tracey's path leads from fairy mounds and ancient caverns still shrouded in superstition to old pubs whose colorful inhabitants are a treasure trove of local lore. He visits the massive and grim asylum where his famine starved ancestors may have lived. And he interviews the Irish research team that first cracked the schizophrenic code to learn how much–and how little–we know about this often misunderstood disease.
Filled with history, science, and lore, Stalking Irish Madness is an unforgettable chronicle of one man's attempt to make sense of his family's past and to find hope for the future of schizophrenic patients.
For most Irish Americans, a trip to Ireland is often an occasion to revisit their family's roots. But for Patrick Tracey, the lure of his ancestral home is a much more powerful need: part pilgrimage, part investigation to confront the genealogical mystery of schizophrenia–a disease that had claimed a great-great-great-grandmother, a grandmother, an uncle, and, most recently, two sisters.
As long as Tracey could remember, schizophrenia ran on his mother's side, seldom spoken of outright but impossible to ignore. Devastated by the emotional toll the disease had already taken on his family, terrified of passing it on to any children he might have, and inspired by the recent discovery of the first genetic link to schizophrenia, Tracey followed his genealogical trail from Boston to Ireland's county Roscommon, home of his oldest-known schizophrenic ancestor. In a renovated camper, Tracey crossed the Emerald Isle to investigate the country that, until the 1960s, had the world's highest rate of institutionalization for mental illness, following clues and separating fact from fiction in the legendary relationship the Irish have had with madness.
Tracey's path leads from fairy mounds and ancient caverns still shrouded in superstition to old pubs whose colorful inhabitants are a treasure trove of local lore. He visits the massive and grim asylum where his famine starved ancestors may have lived. And he interviews the Irish research team that first cracked the schizophrenic code to learn how much–and how little–we know about this often misunderstood disease.
Filled with history, science, and lore, Stalking Irish Madness is an unforgettable chronicle of one man's attempt to make sense of his family's past and to find hope for the future of schizophrenic patients.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published August 19, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 67 reviews
August 8, 2008
Well . . . I am the author, so I'll simply say that this is the book I was born to write. And I'll finally exhale and give myself a pat on the book. Our family has been pulverized by schizophrenia, the most severe form of mental illness, which follows a hereditary line from Boston back to Ireland . . . two of my sisters, an uncle, a grandmother, and her great-grandmother before her, who fled Ireland in the famine and came to Boston, unpacking her schizophrenic gene bank here.
In my memoir, I finally sober up and go back to Ireland to stalk the madness that stalks my family. Basically I purchase a third-hand camper van in London, where I had been living for some years, renovate it, and live in it for a few months to find out whatever I can about the madness that thundered out of Roscommon 160 years ago--a strain so strong that it has now waxed in my immediate family, taking two of my four beautiful sisters. Once child models, they are now such blighted beauties.
I am pleased to report that Stalking is off to a fabulous start. The book has been selected for the Indie Next list. Compiled by the American Bookseller's Association, a trade group for some 1,200 indie book shop owners, the list is watched closely by the big chains. Not to sound money grubbing, but I hope this books gets a lot of sales momentum behind it because I need the cash to take of my sisters. So don't walk . . run to your nearest indie . . . or just visit my web site at stalkingirishmadness.com . . Thanks. - PT
In my memoir, I finally sober up and go back to Ireland to stalk the madness that stalks my family. Basically I purchase a third-hand camper van in London, where I had been living for some years, renovate it, and live in it for a few months to find out whatever I can about the madness that thundered out of Roscommon 160 years ago--a strain so strong that it has now waxed in my immediate family, taking two of my four beautiful sisters. Once child models, they are now such blighted beauties.
I am pleased to report that Stalking is off to a fabulous start. The book has been selected for the Indie Next list. Compiled by the American Bookseller's Association, a trade group for some 1,200 indie book shop owners, the list is watched closely by the big chains. Not to sound money grubbing, but I hope this books gets a lot of sales momentum behind it because I need the cash to take of my sisters. So don't walk . . run to your nearest indie . . . or just visit my web site at stalkingirishmadness.com . . Thanks. - PT
August 23, 2009
Last year I read 136 books, and I have to say this was my top pick for the best book of 2008, and I also have to say, it is probably the book that has had the most influence on my life. And I've read thousands of books in my life, both in English, Spanish, and even in Italian.
The best books have many levels to them. Patrick Tracey's book tells the story of his search for the roots of the schizophrenia in his family. It is a journey through Ireland. Patrick Tracey is an amazing writer, and once you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down until you finish it. It is sad, and might make you cry; but what makes it my top pick of all books of all time (so far) is he is an inspiration, and he educates people. He helped me to accept my half Irish/half Lebanese family for what it was. I think all of us feel ashamed for something in our family trees, alcoholism, mental illness, child abuse, whatever, and he showed me that if he could accept what he has had to accept about his family, and work through his own struggles and still survive. We all can. This book should be on the New York Times Best Sellers list, I don't know why it isn't. And you should go buy it. This is a book you will want to keep. And you don't have to have schizophrenia in your family, or be Irish for you to enjoy this book. It has changed what I thought about schizophrenia, as well as other mental illnesses, and it has made me more aware, and more sensitive to everyone, and their families who suffer from mental illness.
There is still so much stigma associated with schizophrenia. Society is still so ignorant and insensitive towards not only schizophrenics and their families but to other people who are suffering from other mental illnesses as well. I am hoping that people will read this book, and change their attitudes towards mental illness.
When I finished reading this book I felt very grateful to Patrick Tracey for having had the courage to tell his, and his family's story to the world, and he inspired me to accept my family for exactly what it is. It led me to talk to my mother about all of our relatives on both sides of the family, because my mother is the last one left of her generation. And I hope it will inspire other people to do the same in their families. You have to stop feeling ashamed of your family, and start accepting it for what it is, whatever that involves. As they say, the truth will set you free.
The best books entertain, enlighten, inspire, and educate. And Patrick Tracey's book does all these things. Go buy it, and read it now, and don't be afraid of the title.
I think a lot of people are afraid of this book. I think they are afraid that it is one of those sad, tragic, poor me memoirs. It is not. Yes, it is heartbreaking what Patrick Tracey has had to endure, but at the end of the day, his book will not depress you and make you wallow in despair, he will enlighten and inspire you to accept yourself, your family, and whatever issues that you and your own family have had to deal with, and you will never look at schizophrenia in the same way again.
The best books have many levels to them. Patrick Tracey's book tells the story of his search for the roots of the schizophrenia in his family. It is a journey through Ireland. Patrick Tracey is an amazing writer, and once you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down until you finish it. It is sad, and might make you cry; but what makes it my top pick of all books of all time (so far) is he is an inspiration, and he educates people. He helped me to accept my half Irish/half Lebanese family for what it was. I think all of us feel ashamed for something in our family trees, alcoholism, mental illness, child abuse, whatever, and he showed me that if he could accept what he has had to accept about his family, and work through his own struggles and still survive. We all can. This book should be on the New York Times Best Sellers list, I don't know why it isn't. And you should go buy it. This is a book you will want to keep. And you don't have to have schizophrenia in your family, or be Irish for you to enjoy this book. It has changed what I thought about schizophrenia, as well as other mental illnesses, and it has made me more aware, and more sensitive to everyone, and their families who suffer from mental illness.
There is still so much stigma associated with schizophrenia. Society is still so ignorant and insensitive towards not only schizophrenics and their families but to other people who are suffering from other mental illnesses as well. I am hoping that people will read this book, and change their attitudes towards mental illness.
When I finished reading this book I felt very grateful to Patrick Tracey for having had the courage to tell his, and his family's story to the world, and he inspired me to accept my family for exactly what it is. It led me to talk to my mother about all of our relatives on both sides of the family, because my mother is the last one left of her generation. And I hope it will inspire other people to do the same in their families. You have to stop feeling ashamed of your family, and start accepting it for what it is, whatever that involves. As they say, the truth will set you free.
The best books entertain, enlighten, inspire, and educate. And Patrick Tracey's book does all these things. Go buy it, and read it now, and don't be afraid of the title.
I think a lot of people are afraid of this book. I think they are afraid that it is one of those sad, tragic, poor me memoirs. It is not. Yes, it is heartbreaking what Patrick Tracey has had to endure, but at the end of the day, his book will not depress you and make you wallow in despair, he will enlighten and inspire you to accept yourself, your family, and whatever issues that you and your own family have had to deal with, and you will never look at schizophrenia in the same way again.
February 16, 2009
If you have struggled with your understanding of this terrible disease, you must add this to your booklist. Patrick has written what many of us have thought about. Our survivor guilt. Our inability to make sense of this disease. Our wonder for future scientific discoveries.
I learned and confirmed much in the pages of this journey.
And I thank Patrick for going through the heartbreak of writing it.
I learned and confirmed much in the pages of this journey.
And I thank Patrick for going through the heartbreak of writing it.
March 21, 2009
I made it most of the way through but couldn't find enough steam to finish the book.
The problem with this book is that it defies being one genre and could be many - travelogue, family memoir, researched nonfiction - but doesn't do well at any of them. Some of the lines he writes are awful, including the memorably terrible, "I place this last candle behind the first two, knowing that behind my two sisters there go countless schizophrenics. And behind each one of them, on the same sad road, there go countless more still." Ugh.
I really enjoyed the first part of the book about the family history. I thought that the way it was written was confusing - it didn't present anything linearly, but skipped around a lot touching on what memory came to the author as he was writing.
The middle section was where the book seemed to really fall apart - moving from descriptions of caves, to memories of family memories, to Tracey's personal problems, to observations about the families in the campground - and then to scientific quotes (where did those come from?!). It was a book I found too confusing and hard to focus, and ultimately, to finish.
The problem with this book is that it defies being one genre and could be many - travelogue, family memoir, researched nonfiction - but doesn't do well at any of them. Some of the lines he writes are awful, including the memorably terrible, "I place this last candle behind the first two, knowing that behind my two sisters there go countless schizophrenics. And behind each one of them, on the same sad road, there go countless more still." Ugh.
I really enjoyed the first part of the book about the family history. I thought that the way it was written was confusing - it didn't present anything linearly, but skipped around a lot touching on what memory came to the author as he was writing.
The middle section was where the book seemed to really fall apart - moving from descriptions of caves, to memories of family memories, to Tracey's personal problems, to observations about the families in the campground - and then to scientific quotes (where did those come from?!). It was a book I found too confusing and hard to focus, and ultimately, to finish.
January 14, 2012
Absorbing, kind of depressing memoir. Keep in mind that I myself am an Irish American from a family with a history of bipolar disorder, so it was really, really gripping for me. Phew. A million miles from my usual escapist fare and worth the journey.
February 23, 2010
After I finished The Gargoyle I decided to do a little non-fiction reading on schizophrenia. This book was on my to-read list. Perfect!
The author comes from a family with a long and voracious line of schizophrenia, including a great-great grandmother, grandmother, and two of his four sisters. He is a layperson, but obviously has a strong interest in the disease. He decided to take a trip to Ireland, the family's ancestral home, to see if he can learn anything.
The first quarter or so of the book is really interesting. He tells personal (and horrifying) stories of his family's schizophrenia, as well as going over the medical and genetic history of the disease, and (lack of) treatment. I had no idea that so little was known about schizophrenia; I assumed at this point we knew everything about everything. But even the fact that there is a genetic component to it has only recently been conclusively determined and there is no effective medication or treatment for it.
However, then he goes on the trip. It starts out with a bunch of "woe is me, I'm afraid to reproduce and therefore I became an alcoholic." Boring. Then he buys a van and takes it to Ireland. What, exactly, he possibly thought he would learn is unclear and the whole journey to Ireland is entirely, 100% contrived with the view of writing a book about it. I think it is supposed to be all personal and confessional but it comes off as a self-indulgent vanity project. He visits all these mystical sites looking for fairies and magical curative springs. Seriously. The little dribs and drabs of information on schizophrenia in this section are good but thin on the ground. I was not impressed with the final 3/4 of the book.
The author comes from a family with a long and voracious line of schizophrenia, including a great-great grandmother, grandmother, and two of his four sisters. He is a layperson, but obviously has a strong interest in the disease. He decided to take a trip to Ireland, the family's ancestral home, to see if he can learn anything.
The first quarter or so of the book is really interesting. He tells personal (and horrifying) stories of his family's schizophrenia, as well as going over the medical and genetic history of the disease, and (lack of) treatment. I had no idea that so little was known about schizophrenia; I assumed at this point we knew everything about everything. But even the fact that there is a genetic component to it has only recently been conclusively determined and there is no effective medication or treatment for it.
However, then he goes on the trip. It starts out with a bunch of "woe is me, I'm afraid to reproduce and therefore I became an alcoholic." Boring. Then he buys a van and takes it to Ireland. What, exactly, he possibly thought he would learn is unclear and the whole journey to Ireland is entirely, 100% contrived with the view of writing a book about it. I think it is supposed to be all personal and confessional but it comes off as a self-indulgent vanity project. He visits all these mystical sites looking for fairies and magical curative springs. Seriously. The little dribs and drabs of information on schizophrenia in this section are good but thin on the ground. I was not impressed with the final 3/4 of the book.
August 11, 2008
I am usually horrible at reading non-fiction, but this book surprisingly kept my attention throughout. Part history lesson, part memoir, part scientific investigation, we follow along as Patrick Tracey searches Ireland for answers about his family's tendency toward schizophrenia. I learned a lot about mental illness, and even quite a few things I didn't know about the history of Ireland. I also picked up some tips for when we travel to Ireland as tourists next year.
The author's search was as maddening as the illness itself, but I was ultimately satisfied with the book, fruitless as the results may have seemed. I learned a lot, as did he, which is sometimes all you can ask for.
The author's search was as maddening as the illness itself, but I was ultimately satisfied with the book, fruitless as the results may have seemed. I learned a lot, as did he, which is sometimes all you can ask for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2009
If you are Irish, if you know someone who is, or if you like to laugh and cry at the same time, buy two. You will want to share it before you finish it. This is one of those books that has you talking to yourself, even if you are not sufferin' the Irish Madness.
November 12, 2025
A really interesting view on schizophrenia through the lens of Irish history and culture. Focusing on alcoholism, poverty, folklore, and Catholicism and the influence those factors may have on schizophrenia. Also a very thoughtful memoir of someone trying to find peace with the mental illness that plagues his family. Wouldnt have picked it up if it wasn’t on the list for my psychological disorders class but I’m glad I read it. Wouldnt recommend it for everyone as it deals with some heavy stuff and there are a few content warnings.
January 4, 2025
Fascinating!
August 12, 2010
Stalking Irish Madness is a good read, one that at times is incredibly gripping, but it falls short of the excellence it could have achieved. The family history is deftly handled, emotional without being draining, keeping the first third of the book tightly focused and moving at a brisk pace. At that point, I couldn't put it down. The shadow cast over this family by schizophrenia is tangible, and Tracey beautifully presents the dread and ultimate heartbreak as two of his sisters, one after the other, succumb to the disease.
Unfortunately, as soon as the book shifts and he reaches Ireland, the narrative slows to a crawl because there isn't any narrative. Lip service is paid to a search for family and bloodlines, but it's not a longing for home or his own family, really, more of a scientific search for mitochondrial DNA (mentioned several times in the second half), which allows the earlier warmth and energy to slip away. With no clear idea of what he's looking for, Tracey loses sight of the thread, partially beause he has no idea what he wants to find or what he can reasonably expect to find by roaming the Irish countryside. The writing wanders around in circles along with the writer, and the book suffers for it.
Of note, it's really nice to read a travel memoir of Ireland that doesn't center on drinking. (Although, I'll be honest, I love those, too.)
While in Ireland, mixed in amongst various meetings and exchanges taken from his experiences, Tracey lays out bits and pieces of Irish history, good additions that support his process without dragging down the story. Perhaps a bit vague, but for a history buff like me, that's a relief. The general outline of the famine is good to have with a work like this; no one needs fifty pages detailing it. Tracey never seemed to feel the need to prove out intelligent he is, and I very much appreciated that. Tracey also presents an interesting link between schizophrenia and Ireland--or more specifically, Ireland's extreme and heartbreaking nineteenth century history. I actually wish he had gone into more depth on this aspect.
In addition to the history, there is a fair amount of Irish fairy lore included in the text, including an explanation of the term "away with the fairies." I adored that, especially as his presentation was light without being derisive or New Age-y. Fantastic.
Unfortunately, the author doesn't seem to have the knack for describing those little moments during travel, the personal and the meetings, the interaction with the local residents and environment, that make travel memoirs so intriguing. More often than not, when Tracey presented his encounters, they felt repetitive and my eyes glazed over. There didn't seem to be a point to telling us about many of these moments, they fell flat, and it's entirely possible that Tracey didn't know the point, either. Fewer of these and more focus on the family he left behind, not just throw away comments bemoaning the fates of his sisters, would have been nice.
When Tracey returns to Boston and his sisters, he again picks up the narrative from the beginning, the one that got lost while he was in Ireland. There is a return to the warmth and focus that was there in the beginning, which is excellent but a little too late. I wish he could have held onto that throughout his travels; the book would have held together much better and the resolution would have been much more satisfying. I liked this part very much, I just wish Tracey would have been more comfortable with it in order to give us more.
When I finished, I wasn't quite sure what this was supposed to be, which left me feeling a little uneasy. Tracey attempts to transcend genre with a book that is part memoir, part family history, part mental health study, part history lesson, and part travelogue, an excellent idea that unfortunately gets bogged down by all the things it wants to be but doesn't quite manage. Tracey is a capable writer, with a deft (if a bit purple) hand, and I think the connecting narrative thread got lost in the midst of a project that turned out to be overly ambitious.
Unfortunately, as soon as the book shifts and he reaches Ireland, the narrative slows to a crawl because there isn't any narrative. Lip service is paid to a search for family and bloodlines, but it's not a longing for home or his own family, really, more of a scientific search for mitochondrial DNA (mentioned several times in the second half), which allows the earlier warmth and energy to slip away. With no clear idea of what he's looking for, Tracey loses sight of the thread, partially beause he has no idea what he wants to find or what he can reasonably expect to find by roaming the Irish countryside. The writing wanders around in circles along with the writer, and the book suffers for it.
Of note, it's really nice to read a travel memoir of Ireland that doesn't center on drinking. (Although, I'll be honest, I love those, too.)
While in Ireland, mixed in amongst various meetings and exchanges taken from his experiences, Tracey lays out bits and pieces of Irish history, good additions that support his process without dragging down the story. Perhaps a bit vague, but for a history buff like me, that's a relief. The general outline of the famine is good to have with a work like this; no one needs fifty pages detailing it. Tracey never seemed to feel the need to prove out intelligent he is, and I very much appreciated that. Tracey also presents an interesting link between schizophrenia and Ireland--or more specifically, Ireland's extreme and heartbreaking nineteenth century history. I actually wish he had gone into more depth on this aspect.
In addition to the history, there is a fair amount of Irish fairy lore included in the text, including an explanation of the term "away with the fairies." I adored that, especially as his presentation was light without being derisive or New Age-y. Fantastic.
Unfortunately, the author doesn't seem to have the knack for describing those little moments during travel, the personal and the meetings, the interaction with the local residents and environment, that make travel memoirs so intriguing. More often than not, when Tracey presented his encounters, they felt repetitive and my eyes glazed over. There didn't seem to be a point to telling us about many of these moments, they fell flat, and it's entirely possible that Tracey didn't know the point, either. Fewer of these and more focus on the family he left behind, not just throw away comments bemoaning the fates of his sisters, would have been nice.
When Tracey returns to Boston and his sisters, he again picks up the narrative from the beginning, the one that got lost while he was in Ireland. There is a return to the warmth and focus that was there in the beginning, which is excellent but a little too late. I wish he could have held onto that throughout his travels; the book would have held together much better and the resolution would have been much more satisfying. I liked this part very much, I just wish Tracey would have been more comfortable with it in order to give us more.
When I finished, I wasn't quite sure what this was supposed to be, which left me feeling a little uneasy. Tracey attempts to transcend genre with a book that is part memoir, part family history, part mental health study, part history lesson, and part travelogue, an excellent idea that unfortunately gets bogged down by all the things it wants to be but doesn't quite manage. Tracey is a capable writer, with a deft (if a bit purple) hand, and I think the connecting narrative thread got lost in the midst of a project that turned out to be overly ambitious.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2017
Patrick Tracey grew up with the specter of schizophrenia in his family, and watched it strike two of his sisters. This book is an attempt to come to grips with the disease and his family's history. The subtitle is somewhat misleading because the roots of any mental illness, we now know, reach too far back in the development of human beings, for any of us to track them. Still, the idea takes the author to Ireland, where he explores the land his ancestors left behind during the Famine and the tenuous links he has with those who remained. Like any journey, this is a way to explore the questions surrounding the particular disease, the myths, errors, and new discoveries that inform present concerns for the author and his family.
The author's story is compelling, as is the disease. This is not something anyone recovers from. The diagnosis of schizophrenia promises only a lifelong sorrow. With a cancer diagnosis, the patient either gets well or dies in a known period of time. Not so with mental illness as severe as this. Parents and siblings enter a period of lifelong mourning while trying to deal with the patient and the disease. Tracey's two sisters manifest the disease differently, giving us an even broader understanding of its devastation and slipperiness.
The author brings together as much as can be safely asserted to date about the disease, which isn't much but is certainly more than was available or known even a decade ago. The ugly circumstances of Irish life in the 19th century also played a role, and these and other factors are teased out to explain how schizophrenia came to be erroneously associated with the Irish in particular.
The author's story is compelling, as is the disease. This is not something anyone recovers from. The diagnosis of schizophrenia promises only a lifelong sorrow. With a cancer diagnosis, the patient either gets well or dies in a known period of time. Not so with mental illness as severe as this. Parents and siblings enter a period of lifelong mourning while trying to deal with the patient and the disease. Tracey's two sisters manifest the disease differently, giving us an even broader understanding of its devastation and slipperiness.
The author brings together as much as can be safely asserted to date about the disease, which isn't much but is certainly more than was available or known even a decade ago. The ugly circumstances of Irish life in the 19th century also played a role, and these and other factors are teased out to explain how schizophrenia came to be erroneously associated with the Irish in particular.
March 30, 2017
This is a very poignant and compassionate book, and generally well-written. The sheer amount of Irish history can become overwhelming at points, and the book loses some focus when Tracey sidetracks to hunt down some of his other personal demons. But for the most part, this is a fascinating, and mostly approachable, exploration of schizophrenia on multiple levels--historically, culturally, medically, and personally. Even for those with minimal interest in the subject, the book is worth skimming just to read some of the beautiful turns of phrase Tracey comes up with. My personal favorite: "I know that for most people, the idea of going insane is unthinkable. For most families, sanity is a given, as easy as breathing, as sure as seeing the sun rise in the eastern sky. For too many of us, however, there is a creaky gate that swings open at the cusp of adulthood, and on the other side is madness. On us sanity rests no more securely than a hat blown off in the wind. In my family, schizophrenia hangs the moon and tells the sun when to set."
That perspective makes his description of the losses of two of his sisters--who went out into the world as happy, bright, sane girls with promising futures ahead, and came home strangers in need of lifelong hospitalization--all the more heartwrenching. He talks about watching them go to places where he can't follow and can't help them, and having no way to draw them back to his reality. As a psych student, I thought I knew a lot about what schizophrenia was...but this book showed me I had no idea.
That perspective makes his description of the losses of two of his sisters--who went out into the world as happy, bright, sane girls with promising futures ahead, and came home strangers in need of lifelong hospitalization--all the more heartwrenching. He talks about watching them go to places where he can't follow and can't help them, and having no way to draw them back to his reality. As a psych student, I thought I knew a lot about what schizophrenia was...but this book showed me I had no idea.
November 22, 2008
To my surprise I truly enjoyed this book. I probably would have overlooked it at the bookstore, even though I like memoirs, but now I will look twice. I enjoyed the family history as well as Irelands history. I never knew of this plight in the Irish community and I learned quite a bit about this disease. I felt the pain and anxiety that Tracey conveyed at finding his family falling prey to this horrible disease. I admire him for going in search of answers, even as far as traveling overseas and seeking these allegedly ficticious places. I thought it sweet how he even attempted to cure his sisters by bringing back water from the 'healing' well. This has peaked my interest in this country and now I'd like to know more about these Fairy Mounds mentioned in the book. A good read, in my opinion, especially if you're a historian.
Read more of my review here.
Read more of my review here.
July 7, 2008
I did learn an interesting bit or two about schizophrenia from this book. Patrick Tracey's accounts of his family's experiences with what is a truly terrible illness made for very compelling reading. But I ultimately wanted a lot more from this book than it delivered. "Searching" is exactly how this book felt much of the time, as Tracey was searching for something solid with no clear direction and no reasonable expectations of what he'd find on his journey. Unfortunately, this made for a lot of seemingly aimless paragraphs and a lot of repetition. By the end I was just hungry for SOME resolution or revelation or... SOMETHING satisfying.
May 18, 2008
I like his style of writing, but I didn't ever feel any sense of resolution, as I'm sure he didn't either. And, I guess I'm a bit skeptical of there being more insane Irish or schizophrenic Irish than other folks. Also learned from the book that 4 factors are more common in schizophrenics than others, but wonder if it could possibly be viral in nature, like herpes, which can be present but not manifest until something triggers it. Just a thought.
June 8, 2009
Interesting but very poorly edited--keeps repeating. There were a few pages toward the back that actually dispelled or reinforced the concept that the Irish have more schizophrenia than the general population through some good investigative reporting.
June 16, 2015
This is an interesting book but didn't go deep enough for me, I think because it's an autobiography of sorts, and not written by a trained doctor or psychologist who might offer more insights. I also think the science on this stuff is changing rapidly which makes the book slightly dated.
April 30, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “MADNESS DOESN’T JUST RUN IN OUR FAMILY – IT GALLOPS!”
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This is the heartbreaking story of Patrick Tracey’s family history of schizophrenia. So many times when an introduction to a book review starts out saying its “heartbreaking”, the ending of that sentence normally will also say “uplifting”. Unfortunately that is not the case here… but in the place of uplifting… the story is definitely the next best thing… EDUCATIONAL. The author’s Irish family on his Mother’s side has been cursed with this dreaded disease. From his Great- Great Grandmother Mary Egan, to his Grandmother May Sweeney, to his Uncle Robbie, and to his two sweet and loving sisters, Chell and Austine. The reader will be taken on an educational and scenic trip from Boston to Ireland and back. The reader will… if not shed tears… will definitely feel pangs of sadness and dread in the gut of their soul… as names of victims become real to you… and you can feel the actual utter helplessness… that healthy family members… are reduced to. Along the way you will learn about the tragic speed in which this mind controlling, life-changing, dreaded, curse of a disease attacks.
“Schizophrenia is the hearing of voices, but the hallucinations can be seen, felt, and smelled as well as heard. It’s fright night for life for many, an all-consuming terror that never ends.” The author’s healthy Grandmother, May Sweeney went out one day and came back late. Her husband was worried sick. When she came back to their house, he met her at the gate, “her slow grin says it all: every tooth has been wrenched from May’s head – her gums a swollen and bloody mess.” “What has become of your damn teeth?” “May it turns out, was nobody’s victim. She had gladly paid for the dental surgery, she said, to stop the voices in her head. The voices had grown in power and strength until she could no longer bear them. The voices told her they would go, happily, if she would free them from her dental cavities. Whether extensions of her mind or enemies in her head, these strange voices lied, though; they were still chattering, her empty gums still bleeding, as May collapsed into my Grandfather’s arms.”
After schizophrenia attacks his Uncle and his two sisters, Patrick decides to depart on a trip to his ancestral homeland in Ireland, to try to trace down his family tree and investigate possible causes of his family’s medical and mental dilemma. Along the way many myths are refuted. The author delves deep into the effects of the many famines in Ireland… he investigates the effects of alcohol… explores the mysterious and magical “fairy-caves”… and he visits the sights of old and new mental institutions… which held patients that not too long ago were openly called “LUNATICS”. His investigative journey brings him upon a Dr. Dermot Walsh an epidemiologist “whose work, with Dr. Kenneth Kendler, led to the discovery of the first-ever schizophrenia-gene-link. Walsh reveals that questions of causes and cures still tax him. Despite his press, and all the excitement about the abnormality in the dysbindin gene, he is nonplussed. “Yes”, he says of the gene marker, that’s our discovery. But it’s quite clear that its effect, like some other genes that have been discovered, is quite small and you will only get this effect in a small proportion of individuals. How it works and how it operates is another day’s work. We don’t know much about it.”
“OF COURSE, IT’S NOT JUST GENES,” HE SAYS. “THERE ARE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AS WELL – AGAIN, ABOUT WHICH WE KNOW VERY LITTLE – BUT WE HAVE SUSPICIONS ABOUT THIS OR THAT OR THE OTHER. BUT OVERALL, IT’S PROBABLY TRUE TO SAY THAT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGINS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA IS STILL QUITE LIMITED.”
There are a few “main” types of delusional schizophrenic characteristics; one of which is “religious-delusions.” Patrick asked Walsh: “ONE OF MY SISTERS HAD IT IN HER HEAD THAT SHE WAS MARRYING JESUS. WOULD YOU KNOW WHY?’ “NO, WE DON’T. WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHY PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THESE EXPERIENCES.”
The author sadly summarizes: ‘THE FUTURE IS UNIMPRESSIVE, WE NOW CAN SAY. SCIENCE CAN LOOK BACK THIRTEEN BILLION YEARS TO THE BIRTH OF THE UNIVERSE, BUT IT STILL CAN’T HEAR THE VOICES IN MY SISTERS’ HEADS. SOME THINGS TAKE MORE THAN A LIFETIME TO KNOW, AND IT MAY BE THAT I’LL NEVER LEARN THE NATURE OF THIS DARK THING THAT MUGS US.”
At the time of the publishing of this book there are 35-40,000 schizophrenics in Ireland and approximately 2.4 million American adults, or about 1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older in a given year, that have schizophrenia. After reading this book… I will never look at one of those poor tortured souls… talking to themselves on a street corner… in the same way again.
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This is the heartbreaking story of Patrick Tracey’s family history of schizophrenia. So many times when an introduction to a book review starts out saying its “heartbreaking”, the ending of that sentence normally will also say “uplifting”. Unfortunately that is not the case here… but in the place of uplifting… the story is definitely the next best thing… EDUCATIONAL. The author’s Irish family on his Mother’s side has been cursed with this dreaded disease. From his Great- Great Grandmother Mary Egan, to his Grandmother May Sweeney, to his Uncle Robbie, and to his two sweet and loving sisters, Chell and Austine. The reader will be taken on an educational and scenic trip from Boston to Ireland and back. The reader will… if not shed tears… will definitely feel pangs of sadness and dread in the gut of their soul… as names of victims become real to you… and you can feel the actual utter helplessness… that healthy family members… are reduced to. Along the way you will learn about the tragic speed in which this mind controlling, life-changing, dreaded, curse of a disease attacks.
“Schizophrenia is the hearing of voices, but the hallucinations can be seen, felt, and smelled as well as heard. It’s fright night for life for many, an all-consuming terror that never ends.” The author’s healthy Grandmother, May Sweeney went out one day and came back late. Her husband was worried sick. When she came back to their house, he met her at the gate, “her slow grin says it all: every tooth has been wrenched from May’s head – her gums a swollen and bloody mess.” “What has become of your damn teeth?” “May it turns out, was nobody’s victim. She had gladly paid for the dental surgery, she said, to stop the voices in her head. The voices had grown in power and strength until she could no longer bear them. The voices told her they would go, happily, if she would free them from her dental cavities. Whether extensions of her mind or enemies in her head, these strange voices lied, though; they were still chattering, her empty gums still bleeding, as May collapsed into my Grandfather’s arms.”
After schizophrenia attacks his Uncle and his two sisters, Patrick decides to depart on a trip to his ancestral homeland in Ireland, to try to trace down his family tree and investigate possible causes of his family’s medical and mental dilemma. Along the way many myths are refuted. The author delves deep into the effects of the many famines in Ireland… he investigates the effects of alcohol… explores the mysterious and magical “fairy-caves”… and he visits the sights of old and new mental institutions… which held patients that not too long ago were openly called “LUNATICS”. His investigative journey brings him upon a Dr. Dermot Walsh an epidemiologist “whose work, with Dr. Kenneth Kendler, led to the discovery of the first-ever schizophrenia-gene-link. Walsh reveals that questions of causes and cures still tax him. Despite his press, and all the excitement about the abnormality in the dysbindin gene, he is nonplussed. “Yes”, he says of the gene marker, that’s our discovery. But it’s quite clear that its effect, like some other genes that have been discovered, is quite small and you will only get this effect in a small proportion of individuals. How it works and how it operates is another day’s work. We don’t know much about it.”
“OF COURSE, IT’S NOT JUST GENES,” HE SAYS. “THERE ARE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AS WELL – AGAIN, ABOUT WHICH WE KNOW VERY LITTLE – BUT WE HAVE SUSPICIONS ABOUT THIS OR THAT OR THE OTHER. BUT OVERALL, IT’S PROBABLY TRUE TO SAY THAT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGINS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA IS STILL QUITE LIMITED.”
There are a few “main” types of delusional schizophrenic characteristics; one of which is “religious-delusions.” Patrick asked Walsh: “ONE OF MY SISTERS HAD IT IN HER HEAD THAT SHE WAS MARRYING JESUS. WOULD YOU KNOW WHY?’ “NO, WE DON’T. WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHY PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THESE EXPERIENCES.”
The author sadly summarizes: ‘THE FUTURE IS UNIMPRESSIVE, WE NOW CAN SAY. SCIENCE CAN LOOK BACK THIRTEEN BILLION YEARS TO THE BIRTH OF THE UNIVERSE, BUT IT STILL CAN’T HEAR THE VOICES IN MY SISTERS’ HEADS. SOME THINGS TAKE MORE THAN A LIFETIME TO KNOW, AND IT MAY BE THAT I’LL NEVER LEARN THE NATURE OF THIS DARK THING THAT MUGS US.”
At the time of the publishing of this book there are 35-40,000 schizophrenics in Ireland and approximately 2.4 million American adults, or about 1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older in a given year, that have schizophrenia. After reading this book… I will never look at one of those poor tortured souls… talking to themselves on a street corner… in the same way again.
December 13, 2022
A quirky memoir that is a bit of a hodge-podge, but interesting to read how having two schizophrenic sisters affected the author. The first section was the most interesting part to me... a summary of Tracey's family and his traumatic experience of watching first one sister, then another, become schizophrenic. It is shocking how sudden it was for both, even though they express different symptoms. There are also stories of family members in two previous generations being afflicted.
Later in the book, we find the author as a recovering alcoholic, having moved from Boston to London as he ran from the reality of losing these beloved sisters. He fears relationships and any possibility of siring children to potentially pass on the disease. While in London, he decides to take time away from his life and to search for information about schizophrenics in the area of Ireland his family came from, including the first known schizophrenic in his family. Then it becomes a bit of a travelogue and a strange sort of road trip as he tries to sort this all out, slipping in encounters with different Irish folk who might know of his ancestors or of how the country handled the large numbers of mentally ill generated during the horrible famines. There is little science, but he does describe the discovery of the first gene associated with the disease in an Irish pedigree. He cites the effects of famine during pregnancy, the common practice of older men marrying young women (with more mutations in their sperm), and the barbaric colonialism then practiced by the British in Ireland as leading to the high rates of the disease in Ireland in the 19th century. Currently the rate of schizophrenia in Ireland is the same as other countries.
An interesting memoir, especially for those who may also have survivor's guilt when a sibling is so terribly affected.
I especially enjoyed this quote from the beginning: I know that for most people, the idea of going in sane is unthinkable. For most families sanity is a given, as easy as breathing, as sure as seeing the sun rise in the eastern sky. For too many of us, however, there is a creaky gate that swings open at the cusp of adulthood, and on the other side is madness. On us sanity rests no more securely than a hat blown off in the wind. In our family, schizophrenia hangs the moon and tells the sun when to set.
Later in the book, we find the author as a recovering alcoholic, having moved from Boston to London as he ran from the reality of losing these beloved sisters. He fears relationships and any possibility of siring children to potentially pass on the disease. While in London, he decides to take time away from his life and to search for information about schizophrenics in the area of Ireland his family came from, including the first known schizophrenic in his family. Then it becomes a bit of a travelogue and a strange sort of road trip as he tries to sort this all out, slipping in encounters with different Irish folk who might know of his ancestors or of how the country handled the large numbers of mentally ill generated during the horrible famines. There is little science, but he does describe the discovery of the first gene associated with the disease in an Irish pedigree. He cites the effects of famine during pregnancy, the common practice of older men marrying young women (with more mutations in their sperm), and the barbaric colonialism then practiced by the British in Ireland as leading to the high rates of the disease in Ireland in the 19th century. Currently the rate of schizophrenia in Ireland is the same as other countries.
An interesting memoir, especially for those who may also have survivor's guilt when a sibling is so terribly affected.
I especially enjoyed this quote from the beginning: I know that for most people, the idea of going in sane is unthinkable. For most families sanity is a given, as easy as breathing, as sure as seeing the sun rise in the eastern sky. For too many of us, however, there is a creaky gate that swings open at the cusp of adulthood, and on the other side is madness. On us sanity rests no more securely than a hat blown off in the wind. In our family, schizophrenia hangs the moon and tells the sun when to set.
June 6, 2020
I needed this book to help me navigate my family and understand our demons with sympathy. We haven't been challenged with schizophrenia but had our share of bipolar or manic depression and undiagnosed mental/emotional distress. It's hardly worth saying that alcohol was and is a dangerous choice for many family members. It is strangely comforting to think we aren't an isolated troubled family we are just Irish.
The therapeutic aspects are just one benefit of "Stalking" strongly supported by travels rich in locations and characters with a very accessible history of the Tracey family and the effects of the famine, the British, and coming to America.
The therapeutic aspects are just one benefit of "Stalking" strongly supported by travels rich in locations and characters with a very accessible history of the Tracey family and the effects of the famine, the British, and coming to America.
January 8, 2018
While extremely interesting at the beginning, it quickly became meandering and lost its appeal.
June 22, 2020
Interesting to follow his travels but otherwise failed to keep my attention
June 28, 2020
A good easy read. True story of an American family harmed by hereditary schizophrenia
Read
December 26, 2023Hard to read but eye opening and my weirdo psychology brain loved it...
February 22, 2017
A natural follow up to My Father’s Paradise, this book is also written by a journalist investigating his family’s heritage. Patrick Tracey traveled to Ireland instead of Iraq, searching for the origins of schizophrenia rather than Jewish tradition, but ultimately the two books share a similar theme: personal reconciliation to a previously rejected familial trait. The stark difference in the two stories is that Sabar could converse with his primary source, his father, whereas Tracey could not. Schizophrenia afflicted his grandmother, uncle, and two of his sisters, but none of them could help him understand why. This incurable mental illness cast its pall over every member of Tracey’s family, and not even leaving the country could get Tracey away from it. So Tracey turned back, traveling throughout Ireland in a quest to redeem himself, if not his sisters. Tracing his grandmother’s line back another three generations, Tracey found an ancestor, Mary Egan, who emigrated to the United States during the potato famine. By the time she arrived she was schizophrenic, and she handed the illness down in her genes. This book recounts both the dead ends and the discoveries Tracey found as he ran the gamut from scientists to local historians to schizophrenia support groups in Ireland, a nation with a disproportionately large population of schizophrenics and the folklore to match.
October 27, 2009
I was lucky enough to find this book at my local library, within just couple of weeks of seeing its title in an MSNBC news article and wondering - what the hell does being Irish have to do with being schizophrenic?
First time I'd ever heard mention of any link between the two.
What follows is a heartbreaking account of the author's very personal experience with schizophrenia as it invades the lives of his sisters - the latest victims in his irish-american family's battle with it.
But Stalking Irish Madness is not just a story of personal tragedy. It also encompasses a brief yet essential history of a country and its people; and the mythology, folklore, and science of a terrible disease.
A fascinating personal account that somehow leaves the reader with a richer experience than just despair over the fate of those stricken.
First time I'd ever heard mention of any link between the two.
What follows is a heartbreaking account of the author's very personal experience with schizophrenia as it invades the lives of his sisters - the latest victims in his irish-american family's battle with it.
But Stalking Irish Madness is not just a story of personal tragedy. It also encompasses a brief yet essential history of a country and its people; and the mythology, folklore, and science of a terrible disease.
A fascinating personal account that somehow leaves the reader with a richer experience than just despair over the fate of those stricken.
June 25, 2009
REALLY weird book. The author literally goes to Ireland and wanders around, hoping to run into people who may have known his ancestors...in hopes of getting more clarity on the mental illness in his family. Obviously that stuff is pretty thin so the rest of the book seems to be rounded out in Irish history, which is interesting, but still less interesting than the family history stuff. Not done yet...
**
6/25/09 I finished this book last night. He finally returned to the family stuff (his sisters) at the end of the book. I won't say more other than that was the part I really liked best. Good book, a little hard to get through, sort of wanders in the middle (literally, lol) but overall pretty interesting.
**
6/25/09 I finished this book last night. He finally returned to the family stuff (his sisters) at the end of the book. I won't say more other than that was the part I really liked best. Good book, a little hard to get through, sort of wanders in the middle (literally, lol) but overall pretty interesting.
July 29, 2011
I couldn't put this book down for the first part of it, his Irish-American family's plight with schizophrenia, heartbreaking. Then the author as an adult goes on his own journey to Ireland, to figure things out,understand the roots of his family's schizophrenia, and here is where it starts to get muddled and directionless. He meets with all kinds of people, some who help him understand and others who don't, it becomes a weird travelogue as he tents down on campgrounds and rides around in a van. However, these are his own experiences, who am I to be critical? As a read, though, it loses all the focus and emotional connection from then on.
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