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Another Kind of Madness: A Journey Through the Stigma and Hope of Mental Illness
Best Autobiography/Memoir, 2018 Best Book Awards, sponsored by American Book Fest
Glenn Close " Another Kind of Madness is one of the best books I’ve read about the cost of stigma and silence in a family touched by mental illness. I was profoundly moved by Stephen Hinshaw’s story, written beautifully, from the inside-out. It’s a masterpiece."
A deeply personal memoir calling for an end to the dark shaming of mental illness
Families are riddled with untold secrets. But Stephen Hinshaw never imagined that a profound secret was kept under lock and key for 18 years within his family―that his father’s mysterious absences, for months at a time, resulted from serious mental illness and involuntary hospitalizations. From the moment his father revealed the truth, during Hinshaw’s first spring break from college, he knew his life would change forever.
Hinshaw calls this revelation his “psychological birth.” After years of experiencing the ups and downs of his father’s illness without knowing it existed, Hinshaw began to piece together the silent, often terrifying history of his father’s life―in great contrast to his father’s presence and love during periods of wellness. This exploration led to larger discoveries about the family saga, to Hinshaw’s correctly diagnosing his father with bipolar disorder, and to his full-fledged career as a clinical and developmental psychologist and professor.
In Another Kind of Madness , Hinshaw explores the burden of living in a family “loaded” with mental illness and debunks the stigma behind it. He explains that in today’s society, mental health problems still receive utter castigation―too often resulting in the loss of fundamental rights, including the inability to vote or run for office or automatic relinquishment of child custody. Through a poignant and moving family narrative, interlaced with shocking facts about how America and the world still view mental health conditions well into in the 21st century, Another Kind of Madness is a passionate call to arms regarding the importance of destigmatizing mental illness.
Glenn Close " Another Kind of Madness is one of the best books I’ve read about the cost of stigma and silence in a family touched by mental illness. I was profoundly moved by Stephen Hinshaw’s story, written beautifully, from the inside-out. It’s a masterpiece."
A deeply personal memoir calling for an end to the dark shaming of mental illness
Families are riddled with untold secrets. But Stephen Hinshaw never imagined that a profound secret was kept under lock and key for 18 years within his family―that his father’s mysterious absences, for months at a time, resulted from serious mental illness and involuntary hospitalizations. From the moment his father revealed the truth, during Hinshaw’s first spring break from college, he knew his life would change forever.
Hinshaw calls this revelation his “psychological birth.” After years of experiencing the ups and downs of his father’s illness without knowing it existed, Hinshaw began to piece together the silent, often terrifying history of his father’s life―in great contrast to his father’s presence and love during periods of wellness. This exploration led to larger discoveries about the family saga, to Hinshaw’s correctly diagnosing his father with bipolar disorder, and to his full-fledged career as a clinical and developmental psychologist and professor.
In Another Kind of Madness , Hinshaw explores the burden of living in a family “loaded” with mental illness and debunks the stigma behind it. He explains that in today’s society, mental health problems still receive utter castigation―too often resulting in the loss of fundamental rights, including the inability to vote or run for office or automatic relinquishment of child custody. Through a poignant and moving family narrative, interlaced with shocking facts about how America and the world still view mental health conditions well into in the 21st century, Another Kind of Madness is a passionate call to arms regarding the importance of destigmatizing mental illness.
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2017
231 people are currently reading
3154 people want to read
About the author
Stephen P. Hinshaw
20 books63 followersStephen Hinshaw grew up in Columbus, Ohio and attended Harvard and UCLA. A professor of psychology (UC Berkeley) and Psychiatry (UC San Francisco), he is an international presence in clinical psychology/mental health, with over 320 articles/chapters and 12 books. He received a Distinguished Teaching Award in 2001; his Teaching Company (‘Great Lecture’) series, “Origins of the Human Mind,” appeared in 2010. He has been recognized by the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (2015), the James McKeen Cattell Award from the Association for Psychological Science (2016) for a lifetime of outstanding contributions to applied psychological research, and the Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Child Development Award (2017) from the Society for Research in Child Development. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, Kelly Campbell; they have three sons. His newest book, "Another Kind of Madness," chronicles his father's recurring mental illness and the doctor-enforced silence surrounding it, plus the huge need to combat stigma.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
February 17, 2024
Compassionate, heartbreaking and this journal makes it real.
Dad’s Dr.’s “never discuss mental illness with your children. Any such knowledge will permanently destroy them.” For Steve and his sister Sally this was off limits by their mother.
Stigma is another kind of madness the worst kind of all far beyond mental illness itself.
The father’s deep mental illness caused him to leave the house and his family for months at a time to “rest.”
He would book himself into a mental hospital.
Courtesy stigma. The entire mental health profession
Steve clearly carried a dose of his father’s genes for bipolar disorder. He wondered about the hereditary effects on other family members. 3 of his cousins. 2 with schizophrenia And the third killed himself.
Speaking about schizophrenia of which the father was misdiagnosed for the better part of 40years. “ Did my Dad have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and manic depression.
His Mom 40 long disorder in which her body defense system attacks her own issues. Stigma was a major cause of this.
Dad longed to have a real illness, cancer. Instead Dad had to deal with the beginning of Parkinson’s and Lewy Body dementia.
What Steve wanted was to tell the tale of our family’s life. mom was hesitant but later gave way. When shame and stigma are shed hope can truly emerge
This memoir is deep and gets 5- Stars.
Dad’s Dr.’s “never discuss mental illness with your children. Any such knowledge will permanently destroy them.” For Steve and his sister Sally this was off limits by their mother.
Stigma is another kind of madness the worst kind of all far beyond mental illness itself.
The father’s deep mental illness caused him to leave the house and his family for months at a time to “rest.”
He would book himself into a mental hospital.
Courtesy stigma. The entire mental health profession
Steve clearly carried a dose of his father’s genes for bipolar disorder. He wondered about the hereditary effects on other family members. 3 of his cousins. 2 with schizophrenia And the third killed himself.
Speaking about schizophrenia of which the father was misdiagnosed for the better part of 40years. “ Did my Dad have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and manic depression.
His Mom 40 long disorder in which her body defense system attacks her own issues. Stigma was a major cause of this.
Dad longed to have a real illness, cancer. Instead Dad had to deal with the beginning of Parkinson’s and Lewy Body dementia.
What Steve wanted was to tell the tale of our family’s life. mom was hesitant but later gave way. When shame and stigma are shed hope can truly emerge
This memoir is deep and gets 5- Stars.
July 24, 2017
Most have rated this much higher than I did. Most gave it 5 stars.
The title is 5 stars. This is core- the definition of "the stigma" and the deep connotations for its practice during the 1950's until the end of the century, for that time particularly. It's 6 stars for conveying what fall outs and ultimate sacrifices are paid for "that separation" of non-verbal acceptance for something that holds a humongous stigma to the greater community/society. It's titled perfectly. There are few things that still hold that stigma. Mental illness is one and probably still the largest stigma of all. Obesity, especially morbid obesity is another. To the people I have known with this in the family, it is just as bad.
But this is also portrayed through "eyes" that hold some of the very distortions in mood, reaction, silence, life layering for "different" people- as he holds for parts of the mental illness of his father. From "good" days to "sick days". It conveys the misery more than the reality for his father's treatments. And the "hope" part. Which I wanted more of- specifics.
Suffering all around. His sister got much more of it than Stephen did, IMHO. Would have liked to hear far more about her invisibility from HER, too. Not in complaint, but what her life plan reaction to that "bad fit of father's interest" became. Bet she over-achieved to the max!
But especially for his poor Mother. Quite honestly, I would have much more been encompassed by this history if SHE were the "eyes" that narrated. Nothing against Stephen- but he was not the one to see the glint shifting behind the glare and so knew what was coming that day. I remember all of those decades and know what it took to go to a lawyer and set things up as she did "just in case". And to PRESERVE her marriage promises. "In SICKNESS" being the hardest one of all. Do I know it.
When you have various mood, cognition, delusion etc. disorders like this in your own biological family, and ESPECIALLY within people who have extremely high IQ's, as in this Hinshaw group- you will understand more why this book only got a 3 star for me. It was too much about Stephen and Stephen's perceptions and reactions. But that's how it is. And the focus HAS to be on the most ill or those with most reaction to that ill, regardless of other family voids. For society/community protection, if nothing else.
At one time containment was thought to be essential. And then the opposite. And now? Especially upon the ages of some of the worst conditions' onsets (18-22)- self-determinations are usually the WORST to outcome. Short term and long term. Medicines help but still not near to solving!
But I have always thought that the most cruel aspect (truly then but still now too) was the "understanding" doctors. Just like the ones who discredited all of Stephen's Mom's advice and predictions because they "knew better". And separated her from all their protocols.
Minds' perceptions, inputs of what is "tracked", emotive balances are very different and so are the illnesses. Each illness to another's illness. They can be grouped into like categories, but they are never quite the same, nor easily set into a "type" category. DSM-III to DSM-5 all is vastly categorized in a changing mode, as well.
The title is 5 stars. This is core- the definition of "the stigma" and the deep connotations for its practice during the 1950's until the end of the century, for that time particularly. It's 6 stars for conveying what fall outs and ultimate sacrifices are paid for "that separation" of non-verbal acceptance for something that holds a humongous stigma to the greater community/society. It's titled perfectly. There are few things that still hold that stigma. Mental illness is one and probably still the largest stigma of all. Obesity, especially morbid obesity is another. To the people I have known with this in the family, it is just as bad.
But this is also portrayed through "eyes" that hold some of the very distortions in mood, reaction, silence, life layering for "different" people- as he holds for parts of the mental illness of his father. From "good" days to "sick days". It conveys the misery more than the reality for his father's treatments. And the "hope" part. Which I wanted more of- specifics.
Suffering all around. His sister got much more of it than Stephen did, IMHO. Would have liked to hear far more about her invisibility from HER, too. Not in complaint, but what her life plan reaction to that "bad fit of father's interest" became. Bet she over-achieved to the max!
But especially for his poor Mother. Quite honestly, I would have much more been encompassed by this history if SHE were the "eyes" that narrated. Nothing against Stephen- but he was not the one to see the glint shifting behind the glare and so knew what was coming that day. I remember all of those decades and know what it took to go to a lawyer and set things up as she did "just in case". And to PRESERVE her marriage promises. "In SICKNESS" being the hardest one of all. Do I know it.
When you have various mood, cognition, delusion etc. disorders like this in your own biological family, and ESPECIALLY within people who have extremely high IQ's, as in this Hinshaw group- you will understand more why this book only got a 3 star for me. It was too much about Stephen and Stephen's perceptions and reactions. But that's how it is. And the focus HAS to be on the most ill or those with most reaction to that ill, regardless of other family voids. For society/community protection, if nothing else.
At one time containment was thought to be essential. And then the opposite. And now? Especially upon the ages of some of the worst conditions' onsets (18-22)- self-determinations are usually the WORST to outcome. Short term and long term. Medicines help but still not near to solving!
But I have always thought that the most cruel aspect (truly then but still now too) was the "understanding" doctors. Just like the ones who discredited all of Stephen's Mom's advice and predictions because they "knew better". And separated her from all their protocols.
Minds' perceptions, inputs of what is "tracked", emotive balances are very different and so are the illnesses. Each illness to another's illness. They can be grouped into like categories, but they are never quite the same, nor easily set into a "type" category. DSM-III to DSM-5 all is vastly categorized in a changing mode, as well.
September 15, 2019
s. hinshaw, potaknut mentalnom bolešću svog oca i praćenjem iste cijelog svog života, napisao je izvrsnu knjigu (nagrađenu 2018. best book awardsom za najbolju knjigu u kategoriji autobiografija i memoara), kombinaciju beletristike i stručne literature.
prvenstveno se bavi problemom stigmatizacije mentalnih oboljenja i iskreno, ali bez ikakve patetike, opisuje životni put svog oca - počevši od njegovog "leta"s krova kuće kad mu je bilo 16 i hospitalizacije nakon toga, preko krivo postavljene dijagnoze, opisujući zbunjenost koju je imao kad bi, dok je bio dječak, ostajao bez oca na nekoliko tjedana ili mjeseci dok je otac, mimo njegovog znanja, bio hospitaliziran pa do razgovora koje je "iza vrata" vodio sa svojim ocem do nedugo prije njegove smrti. hinshaw daje topao, stručan (profesor je psihologije na sveučilištu i cijeli život posvetio radu s oboljelima od mentalnih bolesti i borbi protiv stigme koju povlače za sobom) i za sve nas nužan uvid u život s mentalnim oboljenjem (=život sa stigmom) i kao takav trebalo bi biti obaveznom literaturom svakome tko želi sebe učiniti otvorenijom osobom i/li tko želi raditi na poboljšanju društva.
iako mjestimice teška i mučna (pogotovo opisi fizičkog zlostavljanja (bičevanja) koja je otac u djetinjstvu pretrpio ili opisi duševnih bolnica kakve su bile u 40.-ima i 50.-ima, npr. zloglasni byberry), važnost prihvaćanja i razumijevanja mentalnih bolesti i borba protiv stigme kojom su oboljeli -a u jednakoj mjeri i njihove obitelji- zahvaćeni, kudikamo nadilazi mučninu same tematike.
a ako misliš da nitko u tvojoj okolini ne pati od nekog oblika duševnog poremećaja, s obzirom na postotak oboljelih osoba najvjerojatnije si u krivu... a neki od glavnih razloga tog neznanja su upravo stigma, sram, "neprimjerenost" i strah koji ih prate.
prvenstveno se bavi problemom stigmatizacije mentalnih oboljenja i iskreno, ali bez ikakve patetike, opisuje životni put svog oca - počevši od njegovog "leta"s krova kuće kad mu je bilo 16 i hospitalizacije nakon toga, preko krivo postavljene dijagnoze, opisujući zbunjenost koju je imao kad bi, dok je bio dječak, ostajao bez oca na nekoliko tjedana ili mjeseci dok je otac, mimo njegovog znanja, bio hospitaliziran pa do razgovora koje je "iza vrata" vodio sa svojim ocem do nedugo prije njegove smrti. hinshaw daje topao, stručan (profesor je psihologije na sveučilištu i cijeli život posvetio radu s oboljelima od mentalnih bolesti i borbi protiv stigme koju povlače za sobom) i za sve nas nužan uvid u život s mentalnim oboljenjem (=život sa stigmom) i kao takav trebalo bi biti obaveznom literaturom svakome tko želi sebe učiniti otvorenijom osobom i/li tko želi raditi na poboljšanju društva.
iako mjestimice teška i mučna (pogotovo opisi fizičkog zlostavljanja (bičevanja) koja je otac u djetinjstvu pretrpio ili opisi duševnih bolnica kakve su bile u 40.-ima i 50.-ima, npr. zloglasni byberry), važnost prihvaćanja i razumijevanja mentalnih bolesti i borba protiv stigme kojom su oboljeli -a u jednakoj mjeri i njihove obitelji- zahvaćeni, kudikamo nadilazi mučninu same tematike.
a ako misliš da nitko u tvojoj okolini ne pati od nekog oblika duševnog poremećaja, s obzirom na postotak oboljelih osoba najvjerojatnije si u krivu... a neki od glavnih razloga tog neznanja su upravo stigma, sram, "neprimjerenost" i strah koji ih prate.
April 24, 2023
Memorable Quote:
"Stigma breeds shame; stigma breeds silence." ~Stephen Hinshaw
A raw and honest memoir that provided a glimpse into the reality of living with mental illness and the stigma accompanying it. The reality that when people are faced with the unknown, to be brave and to face it is the road usually not taken.
"Stigma breeds shame; stigma breeds silence." ~Stephen Hinshaw
A raw and honest memoir that provided a glimpse into the reality of living with mental illness and the stigma accompanying it. The reality that when people are faced with the unknown, to be brave and to face it is the road usually not taken.
March 22, 2017
I received an advanced reader's uncorrected proof of this book. Thank you, Goodreads. I was mesmerized by the story of the extended Hinshaw family and the revelations which son, Stephen, unearthed which shaped his life and unleashed his career. Stephen has spent his academic and professional life trying to understand how it is possible that society has failed to overcome the stigma of mental illness and other conditions that we classify as "the others". He has reached out to children and adults through speaking, studying, writing, and directing programs for those who suffer. His work is guided through stages in which the veil of silence which shrouded his father's life becomes transparent. I was horrified to learn more about the inhumane treatment of mentally ill patients and misdiagnosed patients in history. And yet, knowing that so many of society's failings persist with no plan for a compassionate, knowledgeable, selfless or respectful response, makes obvious how far we have to go. We are really not an advanced civilization if we can treat those who suffer so unjustly. This heartbreaking memoir/autobiography exposes the truth of 'us' and 'them' and is an eloquent call to action.
November 11, 2017
Imagine being a child, and wondering where your father is randomly throughout your childhood.
He's there.....then he's not.....then he's back and no one say anything.
?
This is a great informational book/memoir on mental illness and the importance of doing away with stigma. It was lengthy in some places, although very well written and researched.
He's there.....then he's not.....then he's back and no one say anything.
?
This is a great informational book/memoir on mental illness and the importance of doing away with stigma. It was lengthy in some places, although very well written and researched.
December 15, 2019
http://bit.ly/drugavrstaludila
Stephen i obitelj snalazili su se najbolje kako su znali, iako je Stephen cijelo vrijeme osjećao kako nešto nije u redu. „Svi smo igrali ozbiljne uloge, u neudobnim kostimima i zbunjujućim scenama, bez ikakvih proba. S vremenom smo se počeli pretvarati da se ne pretvaramo. Svaka je izvedba išla uživo, a mi smo glumili kao da nam životi ovise o tome.“
Čekao je osamnaest godina kako bi saznao pravu istinu o očevoj bolesti, o njegovoj braći, o stigmi koja ih prati cijeli život. Otac mu se odlučio otvoriti i razgovarati s njim o tijeku njegove bolesti. Na kraju je Stephen bio upravo taj koji je shvatio kako je ocu pogrešno dijagnosticirana shizofrenija, te mu je postavio dijagnozu bipolarnog poremećaja. Možda je upravo zbog obiteljske povijesti Stephen postao stručnjak na području mentalnih bolesti.
Možda ćete sad shvatiti zašto imam pomiješane osjećaje. Svi mi živimo s nekom bolesti. Svi u obitelji imamo nekoga tko je bolestan, više ili manje. I svi se s time nosimo. Kukamo ponekad, ali nije nas sram reći da smo bolesni ili da je netko bolestan. Sve dok ne krene priča o mentalnim bolestima. Tu kao da izgubimo razum. „Mentalne bolesti, koje se smatraju posljedicom iracionalnosti, nepredvidivosti ili pogrešnog odgoja, izazivaju prezir i sramotu, a ne suosjećanje.“
„Prema provedenim istraživanjima stavova, tri su obilježja na dnu ljestvice društveno prihvatljivih: beskućništvo, drogiranje i mentalne bolesti.“ Mentalne bolesti izazivaju osjećaj straha i srama. Bježimo od njih kao vrag od tamjana. Žalimo sve one koji se nose s takvim bolestima, zahvaljujući se bogovima i vragovima što to nije snašlo naše bližnje ili nas. I možda smo čak i spremi prodati dušu vragu samo da sačuvamo naš mozak. Samo to. Jer smo svjesni što to znači. Ako mi bježimo od osoba koje imaju mentalnu bolest, bježat će od nas ako i mi obolimo.
Na Stephenovom primjeru možemo savršeno vidjeti kako njegov otac nije imao podršku ni od članova vlastite obitelji. Njegova žena i djeca su ga stigmatizirala više od dva desetljeća jer je to bilo normalno. „Stigma je druga vrsta mentalne bolesti, najgora koja postoji, daleko gora od same bolesti s kojom se pojedinac nosi. Nametnuta tišina – potaknuta sramom, a donedavno i stručnjacima s područja mentalnih bolesti – ima nesagledive posljedice za sve koji u njoj sudjeluju.“
Što se događa? Zašto stigmatiziramo sve što ima veze s mentalnim bolestima? Zašto okrećemo glavu na drugu stranu?
Ljudi koji boluju do mentalnih bolesti su isto ljudi. Ljudi kojima treba pomoć. Svakodnevno slušam kako su takvi ljudi bahati, bezobrazni, nasilni, kako se s njima ne može. A možda i ne želi.
Nalazimo toliko opravdanja jer ne znamo obrazac nošenja s njima. Ne znamo što je dobro, što je loše, hoće li isti obrazac ponašanja biti dobar svaki put ili će se svaki put nešto promijeniti. Ne čitamo o tome, ne bavimo se time, nemamo dovoljno znanja, volje ni energije.
Možda nam je lakše vjerovati kako smo jednostavno dali sve od sebe kako bi im pomogli, a oni to jednostavno odbijaju. Možda je lakše dignuti ruke i reći da nas se to ne tiče jer imamo dovoljno problema u vlastitom životu.
Sve dok se „to“ ne dogodi nama.
Grickajmo knjige zajedno!
Stephen i obitelj snalazili su se najbolje kako su znali, iako je Stephen cijelo vrijeme osjećao kako nešto nije u redu. „Svi smo igrali ozbiljne uloge, u neudobnim kostimima i zbunjujućim scenama, bez ikakvih proba. S vremenom smo se počeli pretvarati da se ne pretvaramo. Svaka je izvedba išla uživo, a mi smo glumili kao da nam životi ovise o tome.“
Čekao je osamnaest godina kako bi saznao pravu istinu o očevoj bolesti, o njegovoj braći, o stigmi koja ih prati cijeli život. Otac mu se odlučio otvoriti i razgovarati s njim o tijeku njegove bolesti. Na kraju je Stephen bio upravo taj koji je shvatio kako je ocu pogrešno dijagnosticirana shizofrenija, te mu je postavio dijagnozu bipolarnog poremećaja. Možda je upravo zbog obiteljske povijesti Stephen postao stručnjak na području mentalnih bolesti.
Možda ćete sad shvatiti zašto imam pomiješane osjećaje. Svi mi živimo s nekom bolesti. Svi u obitelji imamo nekoga tko je bolestan, više ili manje. I svi se s time nosimo. Kukamo ponekad, ali nije nas sram reći da smo bolesni ili da je netko bolestan. Sve dok ne krene priča o mentalnim bolestima. Tu kao da izgubimo razum. „Mentalne bolesti, koje se smatraju posljedicom iracionalnosti, nepredvidivosti ili pogrešnog odgoja, izazivaju prezir i sramotu, a ne suosjećanje.“
„Prema provedenim istraživanjima stavova, tri su obilježja na dnu ljestvice društveno prihvatljivih: beskućništvo, drogiranje i mentalne bolesti.“ Mentalne bolesti izazivaju osjećaj straha i srama. Bježimo od njih kao vrag od tamjana. Žalimo sve one koji se nose s takvim bolestima, zahvaljujući se bogovima i vragovima što to nije snašlo naše bližnje ili nas. I možda smo čak i spremi prodati dušu vragu samo da sačuvamo naš mozak. Samo to. Jer smo svjesni što to znači. Ako mi bježimo od osoba koje imaju mentalnu bolest, bježat će od nas ako i mi obolimo.
Na Stephenovom primjeru možemo savršeno vidjeti kako njegov otac nije imao podršku ni od članova vlastite obitelji. Njegova žena i djeca su ga stigmatizirala više od dva desetljeća jer je to bilo normalno. „Stigma je druga vrsta mentalne bolesti, najgora koja postoji, daleko gora od same bolesti s kojom se pojedinac nosi. Nametnuta tišina – potaknuta sramom, a donedavno i stručnjacima s područja mentalnih bolesti – ima nesagledive posljedice za sve koji u njoj sudjeluju.“
Što se događa? Zašto stigmatiziramo sve što ima veze s mentalnim bolestima? Zašto okrećemo glavu na drugu stranu?
Ljudi koji boluju do mentalnih bolesti su isto ljudi. Ljudi kojima treba pomoć. Svakodnevno slušam kako su takvi ljudi bahati, bezobrazni, nasilni, kako se s njima ne može. A možda i ne želi.
Nalazimo toliko opravdanja jer ne znamo obrazac nošenja s njima. Ne znamo što je dobro, što je loše, hoće li isti obrazac ponašanja biti dobar svaki put ili će se svaki put nešto promijeniti. Ne čitamo o tome, ne bavimo se time, nemamo dovoljno znanja, volje ni energije.
Možda nam je lakše vjerovati kako smo jednostavno dali sve od sebe kako bi im pomogli, a oni to jednostavno odbijaju. Možda je lakše dignuti ruke i reći da nas se to ne tiče jer imamo dovoljno problema u vlastitom životu.
Sve dok se „to“ ne dogodi nama.
Grickajmo knjige zajedno!
June 26, 2017
Wow..... I really don't know where to start with this book. This book explains Mental Illness better than most medical journals because it makes it real, it gives you a face/family. This book also explains how mental illness affects families and not just in a "my child/dad/brother is sick" sense.
If you were ever curious or just want to learn more about Mental illness, read this book.
If you were ever curious or just want to learn more about Mental illness, read this book.
February 6, 2025
I will not look at a homeless person the same way again. Such a tragic story of a great mind. It’s sad what we will do to humans at their most vulnerable moments. The people who caused the pain and dehumanization of people in psychiatric institutions are the crazies in my book. That part really got to me. I cannot imagine how some of those moments were absolutely terrifying for his father and especially have such a beautiful mind full of information and to fear when you woke up what would be left.
The concept of bias to ensure survival of the human species makes sense but in a time where the true existente of the human being is no longer attached to tribalism and ability to hunt and gather is gone in a society as connected as we are we need to apply different rules. . Some of the greatest artists/scientists/mathematicians have mental disorders, 1 out 4 people in their 40’s experience mental breaks. Is it the new experience of being human in this world that is causing this, could it be food or abuse or exposure to new chemicals? Or is being different the way of the world and we are just less excepting of what “they” say is normal. All questions I have now.
The concept of bias to ensure survival of the human species makes sense but in a time where the true existente of the human being is no longer attached to tribalism and ability to hunt and gather is gone in a society as connected as we are we need to apply different rules. . Some of the greatest artists/scientists/mathematicians have mental disorders, 1 out 4 people in their 40’s experience mental breaks. Is it the new experience of being human in this world that is causing this, could it be food or abuse or exposure to new chemicals? Or is being different the way of the world and we are just less excepting of what “they” say is normal. All questions I have now.
November 13, 2017
The content of this book is informative and moving, and the style melds a clinician's writing approach with personal history. It is not a literary memoir, but more of an emotional and scientific survey of the impact of mental illness and the stigma of mental illness on a family, and the ways that experience drove a member of the family to devote his life to the scientific study and breakthrough of mental illness. It was easy to read. I really appreciated the overarching "social justice" themes hit upon in the bigger picture of fighting stigmas.
July 15, 2017
Mental illness affects all of us
There are so many parts to this book that touch on my life: secrecy in families over mental illness (or any other issue), mishandling of mental illness, the stigma of mental illness and how it imprints so profoundly on the person struggling with mental illness. I could go on. Read this book to gain understanding and empathy.
There are so many parts to this book that touch on my life: secrecy in families over mental illness (or any other issue), mishandling of mental illness, the stigma of mental illness and how it imprints so profoundly on the person struggling with mental illness. I could go on. Read this book to gain understanding and empathy.
February 4, 2019
Wonderfully insightful and heartfelt writing. In depth about mental illness in his family without being to dramatic or clinical a good balance.
February 8, 2021
Another Kind of Madness: A Journey Through the Stigma and Hope of Mental Illness by Stephen P. Hinshaw is a memoir focusing on the author's brilliant philosophy professor of a father who suffered from un/mis-diagnosed bipolar personality during the years when mental illness was stigmatized (more than today) and mental institutions were worse than our worst nightmares.
One interesting thought experiment the author puts forward, which stuck with me, is the following: About 20 years ago, the author was in a seminar when it was believed that many mental illnesses would be able to be tied to specific genes (apparently, this notion has since been debunked). The seminar leader asked for a show of hands of who would abort their fetus if they found that it carried the gene for bipolar personality. Everyone in the class raised their hand except for the author and his friend. The author was horrified to realize that his entire family would have been prevented from being born in such a world. One thing I have noticed in my travels/readings is that great genius often is burdened by some form of mental illness. This anecdote got me wondering about what kind of world we would live in, what kind of breakthroughs would be missed, if there was no mental illness in the world. But I digress.
The author is a professor of psychology, so he knows what he is talking about. However, I found the memoir a little too focused on the mundane details of the author's life at times (the time he chipped his tooth, the time he froze up in right field and missed a fly ball, etc.). Clearly, writing this memoir was therapeutic for the author, which is great for him.
If you find this sort of thing interesting you will enjoy it. I did not really. But it did make me think at times.
3 stars.
One interesting thought experiment the author puts forward, which stuck with me, is the following: About 20 years ago, the author was in a seminar when it was believed that many mental illnesses would be able to be tied to specific genes (apparently, this notion has since been debunked). The seminar leader asked for a show of hands of who would abort their fetus if they found that it carried the gene for bipolar personality. Everyone in the class raised their hand except for the author and his friend. The author was horrified to realize that his entire family would have been prevented from being born in such a world. One thing I have noticed in my travels/readings is that great genius often is burdened by some form of mental illness. This anecdote got me wondering about what kind of world we would live in, what kind of breakthroughs would be missed, if there was no mental illness in the world. But I digress.
The author is a professor of psychology, so he knows what he is talking about. However, I found the memoir a little too focused on the mundane details of the author's life at times (the time he chipped his tooth, the time he froze up in right field and missed a fly ball, etc.). Clearly, writing this memoir was therapeutic for the author, which is great for him.
If you find this sort of thing interesting you will enjoy it. I did not really. But it did make me think at times.
3 stars.
December 8, 2023
That a book published in 2017 about stigma in mental illness could still be so important and shocking was a bit of a surprise. But the family history that Stephen Hinshaw tells starts in 1930s and is rooted in the 1950s and obviously, that was yet a different time.
I think his story is important and the fact that he can tell it not only through the eyes of the son directly concerned by his father’s mental illness and his worries about having inherited a vulnerability but also in a professional clinician’s perspective makes this quite an interesting read. Thanks to the author for his honesty about his own scrape along the lines of developing a mental illness himself. While I think it does help to have some basic notion about psychological terms, this book is written for anybody interested in the subject of a family dealing with mental illnesses.
I also find the message very important. Because the author is not only just telling his family’s story, he is eager to point out that many of the problems were aggravated because of shame and taboo and stigma. So he is trying to fight against that. I very much appreciated the paragraphs e.g. on ranking of social acceptance “Three attributes, in fact, rank at the bottom of social acceptance in current attitude surveys: Homelessness, drug abuse, and mental illness.”
And while the story itself is compelling and keeps you reading, I found the epilogue at least as shocking: “Three times more Americans die from suicide (42,000 in 2014, the last year with solid statistics) than from homicide.”
I think his story is important and the fact that he can tell it not only through the eyes of the son directly concerned by his father’s mental illness and his worries about having inherited a vulnerability but also in a professional clinician’s perspective makes this quite an interesting read. Thanks to the author for his honesty about his own scrape along the lines of developing a mental illness himself. While I think it does help to have some basic notion about psychological terms, this book is written for anybody interested in the subject of a family dealing with mental illnesses.
I also find the message very important. Because the author is not only just telling his family’s story, he is eager to point out that many of the problems were aggravated because of shame and taboo and stigma. So he is trying to fight against that. I very much appreciated the paragraphs e.g. on ranking of social acceptance “Three attributes, in fact, rank at the bottom of social acceptance in current attitude surveys: Homelessness, drug abuse, and mental illness.”
And while the story itself is compelling and keeps you reading, I found the epilogue at least as shocking: “Three times more Americans die from suicide (42,000 in 2014, the last year with solid statistics) than from homicide.”
June 25, 2017
An outstanding book; exceptionally hard to put down! Tells the sad story of the Hinshaw family's secret struggle with mental illness over many decades, while shedding very badly needed light on the searing pain of stigma and the silence that surrounds many families touched by mental illness. I was deeply affected by this book. This is a must read for so many individuals and families, as well as psychology, nursing, and medical students and professionals. If you or someone you love has been affected by a mental illness, you will find much here to connect with, and if you haven't, you will come to a much greater understanding of those who have been affected. Very sadly, stigma is very much alive in our country, and the time to end it is long overdue. Hinshaw's beautifully-written book and courageously-shared story is a solid step in the right direction.
July 29, 2024
Th author brought his family’s story of mental illness out for all the readers. I learned a lot, especially about the stigma that still exists concerning mental illness, the people that present differently from the hidden behavior norms, and the price they pay for not hiding 🙈.
March 2, 2024
this sucked
August 10, 2025
I learned a lot about bipolar disorder reading this!
February 27, 2021
Such an important topic! Hinshaw's memoir is poignant, compassionate, and courageous.
April 16, 2024
Intelligent and vulnerable. Absolutely brilliant.
March 9, 2025
"But as the weeks went by, dread competed with hope, as I sensed the family legacy of mental illness closing in around me. All my planning and control, each of my small accomplishments: maybe they were just a house of cards, ready to collapse in the next breeze."
This book hit way too close to home.
This book hit way too close to home.
August 10, 2021
I had a very difficult time engaging with this memoir. I come from a similar genetic background although none of the mental health challenges were ever discussed or even acknowledged, and some were huge, like my maternal grandfather's aggressive paranoid schizophrenia that manifested in attempted murder of his wife and placement in a notorious mental institution for the rest of his life. My borderline mother used to tell me as a child I'd wind up in that very institution because I was insane. And that's just the maternal side of the nuttiness...Anyway, I never carried the stigma or fear of any of that, never wondered if I'd become bipolar like my father, borderline like her, alcoholic...none of that. I was curious, sure, but not obsessed. Hinshaw as he comes across in this memoir seems too obsessed and for me it doesn't quite ring true, and I can't tell if this memoir is about him or his father or his family, I don't know, it feels both personal and a bit clinical (no surprise given his many achievements in the field). I actually felt most touching and real his acknowledgement that his sister wasn't as important in his father's life, and how he became the golden child while she was just Sally.
Something for me just remains a bit false about this memoir and I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it's in the latter revelations about his temper, I'm not sure...or earlier bogging down in achievements or just the whole professional achievement aspect when I wanted to read about the human not just the goals. I just could not connect to this story, even with such commonalities with my own. Thus it took me forever to finish and usually I inhale this kind of book.
Something for me just remains a bit false about this memoir and I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it's in the latter revelations about his temper, I'm not sure...or earlier bogging down in achievements or just the whole professional achievement aspect when I wanted to read about the human not just the goals. I just could not connect to this story, even with such commonalities with my own. Thus it took me forever to finish and usually I inhale this kind of book.
October 9, 2017
4.5 stars. Excellent blend of family history, medical history, and mental health history. Professor Hinshaw shines an unflinching light upon his family's history of mental illness, how the stigma attached to such mental illness shaped his family and his own life, and how it drove him into his profession in psychology and as a professor. Hinshaw explains evolving attitudes toward mental illness, the needless forced dichotomy between camps that believed it was either wholly biological or wholly environmental (when any treatment would have to admit dual if not various contributing factors), and the often horrible treatment that was the norm in the past. He explores how the stigma of mental illness meant his family hid the periodic disappearances of his own father, never explaining he was in mental health facilities and his mother never getting the support she needed to weather these absences. Hinshaw himself talks about his own struggles with a mind given to obsession and depression, and how learning about his family's history helped him evaluate his own situation and re-evaluate his father's diagnosis (eventually leading to much more effective treatment). A book that everyone should read as we seek to further demolish the stigma and deconstruct the forced silence that surrounds mental health.
July 4, 2017
Steven Hinshaw never thought that in his family a secret has been kept in the family for 18 years. His father had revealed his long history with mental illness and involuntary hospitalizations. Hinshaw knew his life would change forever. Hinshaw explores the burden of living in a family loaded with mental illness and debunks the stigma behind it. Explains in today's society mental health problems can result in the loss of a drivers license inability to vote run for office This book is a passionate call to arms regarding destigmatizing mental illness.
July 31, 2018
A fascinating glimpse into the world of bi-polar disorder told from the son's point of view about his father's experiences and his own growing up in a family silenced by stigma. I could have used a few more cues about when in time we were, as the narrative jumps between his father's history and his own, but overall a read that should increase anyone's empathy toward those who have to manage mental illness.
December 23, 2018
3.5 Stars: Worth reading. There still so much we don't understand about mental illness and how to support those that struggle. This book is about the authors father's long struggle and thoughtful reflection on the lives of those around him. Amazing that his mother managed to keep the family together and go on to have her own successful career. A family tree would have been helpful addition.
December 7, 2017
The author grew up with a severely manic depressive father who was often institutionalized and he talks about his family history and his training as a psychologist in leading up to his central thesis, which is that we should stop stigmatizing people with mental illness, and what works and doesn't work in destigmatizing it.
Want to read
October 4, 2019Read to chapter 6.
June 15, 2022
This memoir was boring, annoying, and hard to get through. The information relayed is incredibly obvious/unremarkable. The stories were written underwhelmingly and I really got nothing out of
June 22, 2022
2.5 I feel for this family. There were lots of learning points and heart aching stories. I just felt like it was longer than it needed to be.
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