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41st out of 289 books
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The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness
At seventeen Lori Schiller was the perfect child -- the only daughter of an affluent, close-knit family. Six years later she made her first suicide attempt, then wandered the streets of New York City dressed in ragged clothes, tormenting voices crying out in her mind. Lori Schiller had entered the horrifying world of full-blown schizophrenia. She began an ordeal of hospita...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
January 1st 1996
by Warner Books
(first published 1994)
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Khaya
rated it
Recommends it for:
Anyone with an interest in schizophrenia, not only mental health profesionals
Recommended to Khaya by:
Frumasara (her to-read list, actually)
Shelves:
memoirs,
professionallit
Many of us realize (occasionally, at least) that we take our physical health for granted, but does it ever enter our consciousness how much we take our psychological health for granted? Imagine being a perfectly normal young adult from a happy family and privileged background, popular and headed for success, and suddenly hearing voices that no one hears, frightening and extremely real-sounding, so that it becomes harder and harder to distinguish between what's real and what isn't. Gradually, y...more
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I only had a few titles to choose from when I looked to borrow audio tapes at the tutoring center and I'm very glad that I chose this one. Lori Schiller traces the course of her once normal life that suddenly became dominated by the voices, hallucinations, depression, and other debilitating symptoms of schizophrenia. Her prose is rarely striking or poetic but that only highlights the horror of her experiences. Quiet Room is the illuminating and arresting autobiography by a woman who has learned ...more
"Maybe she would be better off dead." This is the heartbreaking consideration of the parents of Lori Schiller, a woman who, at the age of about 22, begins to exhibit symptoms of schizo-affective disorder. After years and years of treatment, hospitalization, drugs, a halfway house, discharges from facilities and therapy, her parents (and Lori herself) begin to wonder what kind of quality of life she can ever have. This book a collaborative narartive of her life and experience of a debil...more
A great way to step into the shoes of someone who experiences schizophrenia, without getting too clinical. In fact, I couldn't put it down and finished it in 2 days. My husband has Schizoaffective disorder, and while the overall experience was a very different one, it was interesting to read about some of the same symptoms from a different point of view. I liked that the book was also written from the standpoint of friends and family members in order to get an understanding of how her illness...more
I am reading this to help me gain insight into my sister's mental illness. Unfortunately, the author has schizo-affective disorder while my sister is paranoid-schizophrenic and it is obvious from the early part of the book (I am about 1/2 through) that there are significant differences. The book is poorly written and not as insightful as I would have hoped. It doesn't answer many obvious questions. For example, I've often wondered about the voices. Are they the voices of people she knows? Are th...more
This book, written by a schizophrenic who was finally able to get some of her life back when the drug clozapine was introduced, helped me understand more fully what it is like for those I know who struggle with this terrible disease. It is well written, but not necessarily easy to read, because the disease is unrelenting in nature and the voices terrible and repetitive. (I googled the author because I wanted to see if there was a photograph of her, and came across a schizophrenic girl who fi...more
This genuine account of life as a schizophrenic was very touching. While Lori Schiller suffers from it, she takes readers through her experience with the use of intense dialog, vivid visuals and voices, and perspectives of others such as her parents and friend. To read others accounts was one of the best things in this book. To hear a schizo's story from themselves and no one else could possibly create a sense of doubt in readers since you wouldn't know what mind state the author was in at the t...more
This was a poorly written book, both in a literal sense and a creative sense. I got so tired of hearing from her family, who in multiple chapters kept repeating over and over how this illness stole their daughter away from their perfect upper middle class life. I get it- no one expected it, she was supposed to go to college and get married and have kids. But it was every freaking time they talked. I think the book being written by two people, and making such heavy use of writing and words that o...more
A very good book from a person who has experienced the ravages of severe mental illness first-hand. As a person who has experienced paranoid-schizophrenia second-hand through my father, I can say that this book captures the realities of schizophrenia at its best and its worst. My father personally knows Lori Schiller and says she is an amazing woman, though anybody reading this book can see this to be true. A definite read for anybody interested in abnormal psychology or a great story about pers...more
This book is an autobiography written by an adult living in Westchester, NY who struggled throughout her life with the pyschotic disorder of schizophrenia. Each chapter in the novel takes a different point of view, which helps to describe the author, Lori Schiller, from multiple perspectives. This helps to get to know the character better especially because schizophrenia is a disorder that affects the personality. The accounts from family members and friends as well as doctors and acquaintances ...more
Aku baca edisi Indonesianya, "The Voices of Demons: Suara-Suara Iblis" terbitan Qanita (2006)
Judul asli : The Quite Room : A Journey Out of The Torment of Madness
Penulis : Lori Schiller dan Amanda Bennet
Penerjemah : Edrijani
Penyunting : Berliani M.Nugrahani
Penerbit : Qanita
Cetakan : 1 Okober 2006
Tebal :
Skizofrenia adalah sejenis penyakit jiwa yang ditandai oleh ketidakacuhan dan halusinasi yang cenderung bersifat destruktif. Para p...more
Judul asli : The Quite Room : A Journey Out of The Torment of Madness
Penulis : Lori Schiller dan Amanda Bennet
Penerjemah : Edrijani
Penyunting : Berliani M.Nugrahani
Penerbit : Qanita
Cetakan : 1 Okober 2006
Tebal :
Skizofrenia adalah sejenis penyakit jiwa yang ditandai oleh ketidakacuhan dan halusinasi yang cenderung bersifat destruktif. Para p...more
This is one of the relatively few books I've bought in both audio and hardcover -- yes, hardcover! This is a book written alternately from the perspective of a young woman with schizoaffective disorder and her family. I'm glad to see from a little web surfing that Lori seems to be holding on and living a partly independent life. She and her co-author bring the personal experience of mental illness forward in such a vivid way you may not be able to read this book all at once, though you might wan...more
I read this a long time ago but I remember loving it. It was a great account of mental illness back when the medicines we have now weren't available yet. I remember reading about the way they would calm down patients is to cold pack. They would wrap them in ice cold towels. The reason was because their body would be fighting so hard to keep them warm that they would calm down. However if they weren't calm after one session then they would unwrap them and re wrap them and do it again.
Krystyna
marked it as to-read
I read this for a summer essay to enter into A.P. Psychology in High School. I don't remember much about it besides that I fell in love with it, and up until just this moment I had entirely forgotten about it other than very sporadic campaigns of looking for it because I couldn't remember the name.
I'm going to re-read it and give it a proper review, but for now you should know that this is a book that will stick with you if you're anything like me.
I'm going to re-read it and give it a proper review, but for now you should know that this is a book that will stick with you if you're anything like me.
I wish I had read this book before my psychiatry rotation in medical school. I had been "following" a young woman with schizophrenia. She was very acutely ill when she was admitted, and she improved slightly while I was with her. One day, much to my surprise, she asked if I would take her to the cafeteria for lunch. Most of the time during that lunch, we didn't say much, but she did say, "I like you. You're easy to talk to" and, "I used to get good grades." At...more
Lori Schiller's memoir shares the world of schizophrenia from the perspective of her family, doctors, friends and the Voices themselves. It is told with absolute honesty, an admirably discusses the symptoms and experiences Lori experienced while enduring the torment of psychosis and paranoia. The story is heartbreaking and disturbing as much as it is hopeful and enticing. It is a book which has left me with profound respect for the writer, her doctors and the ever-evolving world of mental health...more
This is an extraordinary book that tells the heart wrenching tale of Lori Shcillers' more than decade long battle with schizoaffective disorder, one of the severest forms of mental illness (it is a combination of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia). A unique feature of this book is that the chapters are alternately written from her point of view and those of her doctors and family. The writing is excellent and the story is riveting and insightful. Lori's own descriptions give a small glimpse ...more
I really enjoyed reading this book, especially as someone who works in the mental health field, but I was very disappointed that I could find no update anywhere in the book or on the internet about how the author is doing now. The book was written in 1994 and at that time she had been on Clozapine for 4 years and doing well, but I'd like to know how she has fared since then.
So far, this book is honest and easy to read. I like the fact that various people in Lori's life have given their perception of Lori's illness. As usual, everyone experiences the SAME incident differently...that's reality. I've been through the struggles of misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis and I am happy that this family didn't have to travel that road longer than they did.
I had to read this book and write a paper on it for my Abnormal Psych class. I really enjoyed reading it, I thought it was really interesting to get into someone's mind who had a mental disorder. I remember finding parallels to my own thoughts and thinking that her schizophrenia was not really that far of a departure from what might be considered "normal".
Starts off talking about how she beat the family dog to death with a golf club when she was a child. Ok, she is mentally ill but the most selfish, self centered person I have ever read about....this book gives different narratives from different people in her life: brother, parents, friends, etc. Did not make me feel sorry for her in the least.
This book is a powerful look at schizophrenia through the eyes of Lori who lives with it as well as her family, friends and doctors who had to learn to cope with her disease and try to help her. I am very impressed with the honesty with which this book is written. I highly recommend this book for anyone with any interest at all in mental illness.
An compelling, frightening look into schizophrenia. The writing isn't particularly engaging, but I kept reading to learn more about the disease and find out what happened to the author. Chapters are told from different points of view, including that of her brother, parents, room mate and therapist. This variation strengthened the book considerably.
Nightmarish and powerful. The author describes her descent into an aggressive schizophrenia, relating the torturous effects of hallucinations and weird treatments. It's a surprisingly coherent memoir, given how severely ill she was. I mean, who really gets cold-wet-packed and/or locked in an actual padded cell and regains enough sanity to explain it?
I almost gave up on this book initially because it alternates point of views between the author, her friends, family, doctors, etc. and it was quite redundant because they would re-hash the same events/time periods. Eventually that stopped and I couldn't put the book down because I was fascinated to read a first hand account of what it is like to live with schizophrenia. I found the book to be pretty hopeful too - not too depressing.
A required read for my psychiatry clerkship, this turned out to be an amazing book. It gives such insight into the horribly tormenting world of schizophrenia that it makes it difficult to meet schizophrenics without feeling a great deal of empathy for them. Well written, an easy read that is very enlightening.
A very enlightening story on what it is truly like to be a schizophrenic. I must read for those who want a better understanding, and for those who have miconceptions about the illness. Very thought provoking, and heart wrenching at times. One of the best books concerning mental illness that I have read.
Kia Jane
added it
Incredible nonfiction text that reads like fiction! Readers get to hear Lori Schiller's story of being diagnosed with, treated for, and coping with schizophrenia. I've used this book in my EN 110 Good Books class at Northern Michigan University for seven years with great success!
One of the first psychiatry books I ever read, read it back in high school in the mid 1990s. I was absolutely captivated. It was the best view into the world of psychosis I had at that time. Now I'm a psychiatrist. I've bought the book for a sister and recommended it to others.
Sometimes I feel badly thinking so little of biographies, but that is no judgement on the person's life story as much as a criticism of poor writing. Interesting points on schizophrenia and the mental health system from various points of view, though.
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“I didn’t know how to communicate my suffering to anyone else. My anger was returning. I was screaming for help, but the language I was speaking no one seemed to understand. (183)”
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4 people liked it
“I felt hopeless. I was never going to get better. All I was doing was spending time that was really wasted since I was ultimately going to get done what had to be done. Put your finger in a bucket of water and pull it out. The hole left is how much I’d be missed. Killing myself was my job, my responsibility. (131)”
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