Schizophrenia One Disease Many Perspectives

DUNDAS, Ontario - Nov. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- Bridgeross currently has seven highly acclaimed titles on schizophrenia in print along with two documentary films.

The most recent book is Unfaithful Mind by Marion Gibson and deals with late onset schizophrenia in her husband John, an internationally renowned scientist and professor at the University of Victoria. A five star review on Amazon entitled In Sickness and in Health by  Joanne Vivian described the book as
"A terrific read that will suck you into the bizarre world of severe mental illness. You will not be able to put this book down once you start."

Ms Gibson has appeared on radio and was featured in The Georgia Straight newspaper. She will soon be presenting to psychiatrists at the Royal Jubilee hospital in Victoria.

Another perspective on schizophrenia is that of having a parent who suffers detailed in Love's All That Makes Sense: A Mother Daughter Memoir by Sakeenah and Anika Francis. Sakeenah developed schizophrenia as a young mother and describes her life as a Cinderella story in reverse. She went to college, was homecoming queen, married, began a career and had children. Then, schizophrenia struck and she lost everything. She went from homecoming queen to being homeless and institutionalized.

Anika voices what it was like to grow up with a mother with a severe mental illness. She describes the emotional roller coaster created by her mother’s bouts of recovery and how this impacted her well into adulthood.

Reviews for the book have been glowing and both mother and daughter are sharing their story in presentations. In September, they put on workshops at Roads To Recovery '13 Conference entitled "A Journey Beyond Medicaid" in Cleveland Ohio. Then, psychiatrists at the 60th Annual Conference of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Orlando  had a rare opportunity October 22  to hear about their lives and their book. On November 1, they gave the keynote address at the Pastor's Summit Multicultural Faith Based Leadership Summit on Mental Illness put on by National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Alabama in Montgomery, Alabama.

After Her Brain Broke: Helping My Daughter Recover Her Sanity looks at the onset of schizophrenia from the perspective of a mother and her struggles to get help. Written by Susan Inman of Vancouver, the book has been recommended by NAMI in the US, EUFAMI in Europe, and the Mood Disorders Society of Canada. It has an introduction by former Senator Michael Kirby, the first Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

Ms Inman has presented at a number of conferences including Grand Rounds in Psychiatry at the North York General Hospital in Toronto, keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Canadian Federation of Mental Health Nurses in Toronto, and a workshop at the national convention of NAMI in Seattle, to name just a few. Ms Inman is also a regular contributor to Huffington Post.

Three people with schizophrenia have also told their unique and compelling stories. Sandra Yuen MacKay is the author of My Schizophrenic Life: The Road to Recovery From Mental Illness, a recipient of the Courage to Come Back Award in Mental Health in BC in 2012 and one of the Faces of Mental Illness in Canada in 2012. Her book is recommended by NAMI and Library Journal called it  "remarkably compelling.....will hold readers captive.....provides a surprisingly gripping narrative"

Dr Carolyn Dobbins of Knoxville Tennessee wrote What A Life Can Be: One Therapist's Take on Schizo-Affective Disorder. Dr Dobbins was was a top, nationally ranked Alpine skier with a shot at the Olympics when she became ill. Despite that, she managed to acquire a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Vanderbilt and has spent 25 years working as a therapist. Until the publication of her book, no one knew of her illness.

Dr. Thomas G Burish, a professor of psychology and Provost of Notre Dame called her book "powerful and revealing, and provides a unique insight into chronic mental disease".  Dr E Fuller Torrey, the author of Surviving Schizophrenia and the executive director of the Stanley Medical Research Center in  Chevy Chase, MD, said the book is "an inspiration for all who have ever experienced psychosis".

Dr Dobbins was honored by the Disability Resource Center in Knoxville for a life that reflects the spirit of the Americans With Disabilities Act by  helping to break down attitudinal barriers in society for those with mental illnesses.She now teaches part time at the University of Tennessee Knoxville to students learning to be mental health cousellors using her book as one of the recommended readings.

Erin Hawkes is a neuroscientist with schizophrenia and the author of When Quietness Came: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey With Schizophrenia. Bookpleasures described both her book and Dr Dobbins' book this way:

"Both these books are important contributions to a worthy cause, the cause of respecting the humanity of people whose brains sometimes work differently than the majority. For  this reason I  highly recommend both these books and all the titles from this publisher with a mission and hope that they will be widely read"

Erin has written for the National Post, The Tyee and is a regular columnist with the Huffington Post. She has appeared on numerous radio programs in the US and Canada and presented to the Clinical Neuroscience Conference 2013 at the University of British Columbia.

A slightly different take on this disease is presented in Schizophrenia Medicine's Mystery Society's Shame by Marvin Ross. Recommended by the World Fellowship For Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders, the book is best described by an Amazon review by psychiatrist Greg L Freidman of Hallandale Beach, Florida. He said:

Schizophrenia; Medicine's Mystery is an excellent textbook which explores the past history of schizophrenia as well as the current treatment options for this serious condition. The book is very well organized and easy to read whether you are a psychiatrist or a family member of someone with schizophrenia. It also looks at current and future treatment options. I give this book 5 stars.

Bridgeross books are distributed by Ingram and are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, Chapters/Indigo and other retailers. They are all also available as e-books in Kindle, Kobo and Nook versions as well as through Google Play and Apple I-Books.

The two videos are Schizophrenia in Focus, an explanation of schizophrenia using dramatic scenes and interviews with psychiatrist, Dr Richard O'Reilly and The Brush, The Pen and Recovery which is a 33 minute film on an art program for people with schizophrenia and available on Amazon.

For information  visit http://bridgeross.com/index.html.

In September, 2013, Marvin Ross, the publisher was presented with the Hall of Fame Award, 2013 by the Family Association For Mental Health Everywhere in Toronto for his public education and advocacy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFoiy4faLWY