The Center Cannot Hold, by Elyn Saks

This is the true story of Ms. Saks’ struggle with schizophrenia and her success in creating a productive life in spite of her illness. She grew up in Florida in the fifties and early sixties, with two younger brothers, in what appears as an idyllic childhood. Her father was a lawyer, and both parents put emphasis on spending time with their children, engaging in sports and other family activities. There are some warning signs of the illness, in that Elyn has compulsive behaviors and experiences hallucinatory moments. She hides her hallucinations from her parents, although she does try to communicate to them her fear of the dark. Not surprisingly, they fail to take it seriously. Only towards the end of her junior year in high school, does she alert them to having tried marijuana, and of suffering some after effects. (the after effects appear to have come from taking mescaline, but she doesn’t tell them that). At this point the parents take her to a rehab center, since she refuses to promise never to try anything illegal again. The rehab center is punishing and humiliating in its behavior modification techniques, but when she later has another hallucinatory episode, her parents take her back there.

Although some reviews have criticized the quality of Saks’ writing, I found her story riveting throughout. She first does graduate study at Oxford in England, and the difference between her treatment there and in New Haven, Connecticut, where she later attends school, is overwhelming. She finally finds therapy in the U.S. similar to what she had in England, but the heavy handed and demeaning approach to her symptoms by the medical establishment here is striking in compared to England, where her wishes were respected and her rights were not violated.