Overview

How does one recover from the oftentimes devastating and debilitating mental illness known as schizophrenia? Robert Francis has lived with schizophrenia since his first diagnosis in 1995. Over this time, he has taken antipsychotic medication uninterrupted. Despite schizophrenia, Robert has worked as a mental health talk-therapist (a Licensed Clinical Social Worker- aka LCSW) since 2006 and he currently practices in a nursing home. In many ways, Robert believes his diagnosis has bettered his capacity as a clinical social worker. Robert details his history with his recurring episodic psychoses. Robert has experienced the full spectrum of schizophrenia symptoms including delusions, auditory hallucinations, and associated mood disturbances mixed with a sense of humor. Despite Robert's ongoing symptomatology, over the course of two decades plus, Robert has persisted in vocation and in a gainful sort of psychiatric recovery. Robert portrays his psychotic experiences as a common template so others too can acquire the skills, self-confidence, and persistent hope in their ability to recover and live gainfully. Both are an experiential perspective alongside a professional clinical perspective. With these dual perspectives, a comprehensive thread is sown and schizophrenia is understood both first-person and clinically. This combination lends to a fuller appreciation of schizophrenia germane. Join Robert in his episodic regales as what he hopes can be the shortcut to the recovery efforts of others.

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9781998806331

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"""This is the fourth monograph from a scholarly, fluent, and self-proclaimed ""schizophrenia veteran"". It is a living testament to the author's ""passionately and absolutely"" held belief in recovery from schizophrenia. The vehicle for this message is a series of short stories, recounting episodes of florid psychosis - a portrait of the author as a young man. These episodes are chosen carefully to illustrate the many facets of psychotic ideation and perception. If you thought these are going to be little horror stories, then you would be wrong. They are certainly disturbing disruptions to the psyche but are recounted with humor and insight, such that one can identify with the author's inner life. This reading is made even more comfortable by noting that the author subsequently became an academic and skilled mental healthcare professional. Despite the tales of madness, one cannot help but smile with every page. My favorite line was: ""When amid delusional terror and fleeing for one's life, allow me to recommend the Marriott!"" -Karl J. Friston, MBBS, MA, MRCPsych, MAE, FMedSci, FRBS, FRS, Scientific Director: Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Professor: Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, Honorary Consultant: The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery ""I have been a fan of Robert Francis' writing for several years. What I appreciate most is the honest and vivid first-hand picture of schizophrenia that he adeptly paints. Robert writes with peerless whimsy, humor, and optimism. His latest book, detailing the nature of his schizophrenia, does not disappoint. In fact, it is his most revealing and insightful volume to date. Robert's detailed descriptions allowed me to gain a much greater understanding of psychosis. Through his portrayals, I also was rewarded with a new appreciation of the origins of common delusions in schizophrenia and gained much-needed perspective on how some characteristic thought patterns and even behavioral mannerisms may ""make sense"" in the context of the supporting delusions and hallucinations. Overall, Robert Francis' latest work is a singular triumph, and the perfect capstone to his oeuvre (thus far)."" -Stephen J. Glatt, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Director, Psychiatric Genetic Epidemiology and Neurobiology Laboratory (PsychGENe Lab), SUNY Upstate Medical University ""Illness narratives offer invaluable insight into the internal landscape of psychosis, often highlighting challenges and structural barriers to recovery, and helping to dispel false beliefs about schizophrenia-spectrum conditions. These first-person accounts are enormously impactful in shaping the public discourse about mental illness and at the same time, provide psychoeducational resources for families, clinicians, and researchers. In ""Mad Tales of a Schizophrenic"", Mr. Robert Francis, the author of ""On Conquering Schizophrenia"" and a licensed therapist, candidly shares his lived experience of psychosis in a subtly groundbreaking way. He recounts eight memorable episodes of hallucinatory and delusional experiences from his past in vivid detail with a great deal of warmth, humor, and acceptance. He invites the readers to join him to find meaning in the absurdity of his past psychosis episodes without bitterness or fear but always with light and gentleness. This is a truly generous offering to the world, a quietly powerful message about a true picture of recovery from schizophrenia, delivered with kindness."" -Dr. Sohee Park, Ph.D., Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University"

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