Perched on tall chairs around a long, highly-polished slice of tree, Cafe Luna served us a delicious lunch while we discussed Robert Kolker's "Hidden Valley Road". Lunatic, derived from luna, the moon, historically referred to those made crazy by the moon and later characterized clinically insane people. How appropriate to meet at said cafe although I cannot recall any specific mention of lunacy in this account of a family's experience with schizophrenia. Disappointed that scientific work and understanding of the condition is slow in development, due to drug companies' lagging motivations and the mysterious nature of the disease, at least compassionately identifying a sufferer with a diagnosis and not a 'crazy' label has evolved.
Feeding our curiosity, Kolker did a fine job documenting the Galvins' tragic journey while presenting the state of research and treatment for the disease. We marveled at the family dynamics and debated the role of genes and parental behavior. Casual disregard by Pfizer for Lynn DeLisi's genetic study research shocked but we accepted as plausible. What a mess.
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| Lynn DeLisi |
While reading "Hidden Valley Road" I was struck by seeing psychosis everywhere... schizophrenia affects about 1% of the population - 2.6 million American adults. Seemingly at every turn, my command, "'Alexa' play 'Hidden Brain'" yielded this odd story:
(Make a cup of tea and pretty-please, check these out.)
https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-fake-bride/
Which reminds me of a long time favorite "This American Life" podcast about two desperate siblings creating a family to babysit as a means of escaping their overbearing mother:
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/175/babysitting/act-three-0
There is no evidence that either of these stories were about schizophrenics, which is kind of the point.
Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"Next Year in Havana" Chanel Cleeton
"Empire of Pain" Patrick Radden Keefe *chosen
"The Mountains Sing" Nguyen Phan Que Mai
Up next:
Heedful reading,
LK
