Review: The girl who lost the genetic lottery
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2014
This a short but very powerful account of a young woman's struggle with debilitating mental illness.  Don't go into it expecting answers. She writes the story exactly as she experienced it and reality is sometimes as elusive for the reader as it frequently is for the author. That's the beauty and the value of this book.  What would YOU do if you woke up one morning and put your feet out of bed and there was no floor?  Some things are impossible to fully understand without having experienced them, but as the stigma surrounding mental illness subsides, more of its victims are speaking out.  Treatment of schizophrenia is improving but (for many) still falls far short of effective. Some questions (such as the causative role of genetics or drug abuse) are still to be answered. In the mean time, even sympathetic understanding helps. That's one thing we all have to offer and we should be generous with it.THERE'S NO SUCH WORD AS CAN'T by Louise Johnson is a well-written, fascinating memoir about schizophrenia which goes into the question of marijuana use and its apparent role in triggering schizophrenic episodes.  WITNESS TO THE DARK by Bob Larsted and SCHIZOPHRENIA - WHO CARES? by Tim Salmon are both fine books which give a parent's view of schizophrenia and the frustrations of  trying to get effective treatment for their children.