The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness

by Elyn R. Saks

In fact, it is not necessarily true that everything can be conquered with willpower. There are forces of nature and circumstance that are beyond our control, let alone our understanding, and to insist on victory in the face of this, to accept nothing less, is just asking for a soul-pummeling. The simple truth is, not every fight can be won.

Schizophrenia rolls in like a slow fog, becoming imperceptibly thicker as time goes on.

Freud built his theory of mind and method of treatment upon the concept of the human “unconscious”—the idea that we all think, feel, and do what we do for reasons that we are not entirely aware of.

gathered up my books and headed for the library.

Books and library/bookstores calm me down too!

Schizophrenia is a brain disease which entails a profound loss of connection to reality.

The idea that there’s any victory in surrender is totally foreign to almost everyone I’ve ever known, rich or poor, sick or well, happy or sad. Surrender feels like failure, it feels like defeat.

Mental illness comes with stigma attached to it, and that stigma can set off a negative reaction, even from the nicest people, with good intentions and kind hearts.

A mental illness diagnosis does not automatically sentence you to a bleak and painful life, devoid of pleasure or joy or accomplishment.