No comments about Knitting the Ravell'd Sleave: Memoirs of a Nurse.

5 comments about Escape from Psychiatry.

1. This book truely touched my heart. I felt like a kindred spirit with the author. Clover's childhood reminded me so much of my own and brought back so many difficult emotions for me that I wept bitterly throughout the first five chapters. The book also gave me a complete understanding of what my mother, who died at the age of 53, went through with psychiatry and being diagnosed with manic-depressive illness. The way Clover explains feelings and behaviors she and others experienced in the book is nothing short of remarkable. I have never read a book that touched me at such a deep emotional level. This book made it impossible for me not to look deep within myself in an attempt to rescue my soul from the depths of spiritual turmoil and restlessness that I have allowed myself to fall prey to for 36 years. This book is extremely climactic in that it starts with a child that is isolated and withdrawn, being held hostage by the confines of a confused, angry, lonely, and miserable soul ultimately blooming into a beautiful, thriving, giving, understanding, accepting, and luminous spirit reaching out to help and be helped. Becoming one with all spirituality. Becoming complete. Clover, you are truely blessed. My spirit loves yours because you have the mind of Christ. Absolutely marvelous book. A must for everyone in search of self. You find it in this book because Clover holds your hand and leads you directly to it.



2. ESCAPE FROM PSYCHIATRY is a very powerful story! I am awed by Clover's strength and courage in being able to recall and relive all of her experiences of psychiatric abuse in order to write about what she went through. Her story is very important because it shows how the core of so-called "schizophrenia" often traces back to feeling desperate for love and yet very afraid of it. Mostly, however, her story documents how the pessimistic expectations that psychiatrists have for people who are extreme mental cases can become self-fulfilling prophecies for people who remain trapped as "patients" in the "mental health" system. When Clover found different people who gave her kindness, love, and hope, she recovered and healed. This is the kind of story that most psychiatrists can't stand hearing about because it shows how they contribute to the very conditions they claim they are trying to cure, and it shows that their beliefs about "chronic mental cases" can be totally wrong.

   Al Siebert, Ph.D Host of the "Successful Schizophrenia" web site. Executive Director of the Kenneth Donaldson Archive for the Autobiographies of Psychiatric Survivors




3. "Escape from Psychiatry," the autobiography of "Clover Smith" is a harrowing account of one woman's odyssey through the mental health care system of the `50s, '60s and `70s. This is not a book that can be evaluated as a piece of literature, because strictly speaking, it just isn't. But, like other first person accounts in the same vein - Frances Farmer's "Will There Really Be a Morning?" comes to mind - Clover's story is valuable for its portrayal of the shocking abuses and neglect endured by the mentally ill at the hands of psychiatrists.
   
   From her seemingly-credible perspective, she was just a young woman cut off from emotional support who put her trust in doctors to heal her simple fears. All she desired was one person with whom to talk about her feelings of isolation and terror. Instead she was scarred and scared, literally out of her wits, by a series of "treatments" which resembled torture more closely than they did rehabilitation. At the hands of doctors she spent thirty-one years undergoing electro-shock and neuroleptic drug therapies which left her filled with increasingly justified, internal rage and external symptoms ranging from the loss of her teeth and memory to the constant muscle spasms of tardive dyskinesia - a known neurotoxic side-effect from the brain damage caused by a range of neuroleptic drugs.
   
   She never did find a psychiatrist who wanted to talk with her, with the exception of one scurrilous egotist who also tried to bed her. Yet some preternatural strength, resident inside Clover, allowed her to outlast the convoluted mental health care system. Her recovery finally came as a result of entering an Alcoholics Anonymous program and weaning herself from the medications she instinctively knew to be toxic. She is no longer schizophrenic or paranoid, two diagnoses that may never have been accurate for her or countless others who have undergone similar treatment.



4. I have had the pleasure of meeting Clover and was able to spend some time getting to know her and though the book is great in person she is truly amazing. Having studied psychiatry and the effects of long term treatment I can tell you that hardly anyone makes it out and is able to function on their own. Clover has done that and was able to write and self publish her story all with the intent to help others. This book is great, it is truly a testament to one woman's strength and love for all. I would encourage you to also contact her through the info. given and support her cause, she is a real hero and a wonderful woman.



5. Escape from Psychiatry made me run the gamut of emotions. At times its text felt like the memoir of a holocaust survivor, revealing all manner of abuse and horror against humanity. I was mystified and intrigued, angered and repugned, saddened and humiliated. But mostly I was joyous...joyous that the invulnerable holy spirit, in all its divinity, ultimately emerges triumphant, giving hope and inspiring all who share this journey.
   
   Clover Smith-Greene will tell you herself, she is one of the most truly blessed--she escaped the deadly clutches of psychiatry! Her remarkable recovery is a living testimony that through God's love and forgiveness anyone and everyone can heal.
   
   Gwen Olsen, Author of Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher

No comments about Physician to the World: The Life of General William C. Gorgas (Library Alabama Classics).

1 comments about Speechless: God And a Brain Injury.

1. The author basically deals with a five year period in his life in which he has to deal with the trauma of a serious injury to his brain. The frustration, despair, grief and ultimate coming to terms of the different person he has become is quite moving. Although, he is surrounded by the support of family and friends, it is his renewed faith in God in which Keith finds the strength to accept his fate. Whether you have suffered from a brain injury, or have other physical traumas that have put you through great mental anguish, I would highly recommend this book. From speechless to a man with a motivating story to tell!

No comments about A Mind That Found Itself.

No comments about Between Losing And Finding: The Life Of An Analyst.

No comments about Celia, Army Nurse and Mother Remembered: A Nurse for the Century.

2 comments about Against the Odds: The True Story of Michele, a Cancer Survivor.

1. If you have a child with cancer, this book is a must-read. It is the story of Michelle, who had a recurrent Wilm's tumor. My son also had the same cancer twice, but almost 30 years later! It was an inspiration to me to realize that if Michelle could make it 30 years ago, my son can make it with all the new treatments that are available today! Thank you to the Nolan family for opening up their lives and sharing this story.



2. Definitely an inspirational book for any parent of a child with cancer. You'll laugh and cry.

No comments about Surviving A Stroke: Recovering and Adjusting to Living With Hypertension (Isis (Paperback Large Print)).

5 comments about At Face Value: My Struggle With a Disfiguring Cancer.

1. This book is excellent; an outstanding inspiration! I found myself laughing and crying in the span of 15 seconds and applauding his bravery with each turn of the page. Terry is a wonderful example of how positive thinking, coupled with a strong faith, are instrumental in the healing process. But we also see his many other raw emotions, and how they're hard to fight in the thick of battle. Terry, thank you for being extra transparent, allowing us to identify with your story (even if we don't have cancer) and apply it to our own challenges.



2. Inspiring. If I ever feel sorry for myself I will just pick up this book. Quite a story. Quite a personality. (I felt I got to know Terry personally.) And, I was thoroughly entertained with the story he was telling. Most of all....his book will help me face life with a better attitude.
   
   JIM RICE



3. As a fellow sarcoma survivor, my journey with a different type of sarcoma, in a different location, was similar. Terry's recounting of his journey was helpful for me. It reinforced that the numerous emotions that one goes through both during and after the battles, however different are part of the process of healing. Like Terry, part of me is disfigured, but I have accepted the scars as battle wounds, as a reminder that I have won and life goes on. Terry put into words the very emotions that I encountered these past few years. Unless one goes down this dark path firsthand, it is very difficult to understand what living with cancer is like. I highly recommend this book for everyone, not just therapists, patients and caregivers. Terry wrote the book like he is telling his tale to his friends. His message is a great wake-up call to all, to not pre-judge others on appearances. There is a story behind every scar. Read the book, then pass it on to a friend. Thank you, Terry, for writing your story.



4. "At Face Value" details author Terry Healey's brush with death and his conversion from a focus on the externals of life to the fabric that makes up the human spirit. Healey, diagnosed with a fibrosarcoma while a college student, is a cancer survivor today. In "At Face Value," Healey chronicles his years-long journey from the initial, agonizing diagnosis through more than thirty surgical procedures and radiation treatments he endured.
   
   Healey was not sure if he would survive the cancer, as it reoccurred. Once survival was a real possibility, he had to deal with having to never look "normal" as the fibrosarcoma radically disfigured his appearance, particularly his face. Thoughts of death and stares by friends and strangers were constant companions.
   
   The author says "the book is not about cancer disfigurement but a much broader issue, society's quick judgment of people based on the superficial" and "our need to look beyond appearances." We need to look deeper, and focus on the internal fabric that makes up the human spirit.
   
   The book explores the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual challenges faced by those forced on people faced with a serious life-threatening and disfiguring illness (or accident). These challenges are not unique to Healey. For example, a spiritual challenge most of us can identify with is our daily relationship with God. "I felt guilty about wanting to ask God for good health and favorable pathology results...why I only paid special visits to church when I needed help. Why couldn't I stop by church to say a few thanks now and then?...We all get caught up in our lives and tend to pray only when we're facing a major obstacle or illness ...eventhough (sic) I knew prayer always helps."
   
   Today, Healey is a board member of the Wellness Community - helping others facing a life threatening illness - and is a highly sought after motivational speaker.



5. This book is a great read for anyone who wants to know just how indomitable the human spirit can be. Terry's story is written in a refreshingly candid style, giving us access to places that many authors seemingly avoid. By showing us his deepest fears and greatest challenges, he ultimately takes us on a journey of touching triumph.
   
   While there are several amazing aspects to this book, I found the most moving and enlightening area to be his description of re-inventing himself "from the inside out." Virtually all of us have made up stories about ourselves that keep us separate from others. Terry 's illumination of this process can help each and every one of us to dispel those myths and ultimately enjoy much closer relationships - both with others and ourselves.