Malady of the Mind: Schizophrenia and the Path to Prevention

This book is fantastic. I first got it at the library to try and understand the difference between psychotic episodes and schizophrenia due to a relative's recent problems. It was so engrossing, I had to buy my own copy to mark up. The organization of the book is masterful and engaging; it's thoroughly referenced with a great appendix and all the notes anyone could want. I disagree with the review that Dr. Lieberman was bragging. If anything, his honesty and humility and authentic care came through loud and clear. If you want to learn about the history of mental illness, how the US's treatment of those affected has changed over the years, how different medications have been developed and why and how they work - you NEED this book. It also goes into detail about what we continue to learn about the brain and why the latest breakthroughs are leading to those affected. It reads like a novel. I couldn't put it down. All I can say is a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Lieberman for this masterpiece of information and hope.

MALADY OF THE MIND: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND THE PATH TO PREVENTION is a brilliant book that provides helpful information and offers hope about a terrifying illness. Dr. Lieberman has written a clear, understandable, and fascinating book. I do not have a medical background, but found the book well-written and tremendously interesting and informative. Dr. Lieberman's expertise, decades of experience, dedication and compassion shine throughout. So many have been touched by mental illness--whether through the suffering of family members, friends, or colleagues, or by the sad events we hear about so often in the daily news. This book is a welcome resource, and easily the best book I have read on the subject. 5 stars! Highly recommended!

This is the most comprehensive account of schizophrenia I’ve ever read. With a family history, I’m so worried for my own children but feel like the disease has fewer unknowns and therefore less to fear since i understand it more now. I only wish the book was structured to start with prevention and then pan out to history, etc, but I was able to skip around as needed. The author’s prose was perfectly understandable to someone without a medical background which I appreciate. Highly recommend!

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As a former Intensive Case Manager who worked with large caseloads of deinstitutionalized clients and their families, I witnessed first hand the failures of public policy and medicine to address the reality of living in the community with severe and persistent mental health disorders—most commonly diagnosed as Schizophrenia. I read the book as a cathartic to for one, help me decompress after 6 years in the field and working under incredibly poor leadership with little support. I witnessed the excruciating suffering of families left to cope with the return of adult children after release from long inpatient stays, often numb from ECT treatments or refusing to take medications but insistence on self medication with alcohol and street drugs that “made the voices stop or held the suffering at bay;” and the admission of many that they felt safe in the state hospital and lost in the community—one of whom committed suicide after returning home from 16 years in the hospital, found by his mother, who had recently turned to me, a social worker, and stated that she hoped that I could “straighten her son out.” This tragedy marked my decision to move away from work that I was able to only really have a Miep Gieses impact, however small my light in pouring resources, caring and heart into the homes that I entered. One gaping question that I had was answered in chapter 14: about half of the people were long time drug abusers who were diagnosed with bipolar or Schizophrenia. We have an epidemic in our nation that is silent: psychosis induced by substance abuse-not organic brain disease or genetic in origin. The majority of those individuals are collecting Social Security disability, living in subsidized housing, and if they land upon auspices of a good case manager, get set up for the remainder of their lives so that they are not a burden to their families. This book is a brilliant work, extremely comprehensive, with well researched history to provide a story to enlighten those who wonder, like me, how we got to the sad place that we are. I had the privilege of working with a great and caring psychiatrist like the author—but the community mental health center we worked for was led by number crunchers focused on billable hours and chart audits. Oddly, clients with commercial insurance were rarely able to get outpatient services at the community clinics—but those with state medical assistance who were not working got right in. Again, the highly readable book helped me close a door with much greater understanding and actual descriptions of so much that I experienced.

I read Lieberman's "Malady of the Mind" with great interest, as there has been little written on schizophrenia and psychotic disorders since Saks ("The Center Cannot Hold") that capture a full and detailed clinical picture, as well as the heart-rending human vulnerabilities of severe mental illness. Lieberman's book goes further than any book in this genre by adding modern evidence-based practices and interventions to compelling patient stories, both from pharmacological and psycho-social perspectives. He writes clearly and with a straightforward style that make even the most complicated details of schizophrenia's neurological aspects accessible to all.Lieberman examines important points from the past that - while not comprehensive, look at schizophrenia's place in western medical history, particularly from the nineteenth century forward. He persuasively argues that early detection and intervention are of critical import, and will ameliorate schizophrenia's most harmful effects - particularly if such efforts are supported by rigorous policy reforms.An invaluable psychoeducational resource, a gripping read, and a powerful rallying cry, "Malady of the Mind" is a book that will sit will me for some time, and is sure to be discussed by families impacted by schizophrenia, in university classrooms, and in hospitals for years to come.-J Stanley, School Social Worker and Adjunct Professor at Columbia School of Social Work

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