(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best books about schizophrenia

In jungian terms, and, Jung talks at some length about this in his seminars on Nietzsche's Zarathustra, Nietzsche lacked a connection to his "Anima", his inferior function and in turn the unconscious.

(https://www.amazon.com/Jungs-Seminar-Nietzsches-Zarathustra-Jarrett/dp/0691017387/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1472918280&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=Carl+Jung+Zarathrustra)

This is the abridged version and is only around 350 pages of what, in its full form, is a whopping 1500 pages. I think its important to keep that in mind while reading.


Anyway, remember we talked about Sensing and Emotion to be Nietzsche's inferior functions. If we look at his life, his chronic illnesses (sensing) and his incredible loneliness(emotion), as many of his friends deserted him later in life, and his love of his life did not accept his love, we can see where his life lacked a strong connection to his philosophy.

Was Nietzsche a Dionysian anywhere else than in his philosophy? At one point, I believe, he had a good strong friend group. But nearer to the end of things, he was incredibly isolated, awkward as hell, and spent a lot of the time watching others in beautiful places. With this in mind, Jung talks about the Apollonian archetype as being an over intellectualized character, not necessarily in the soulless, over rational sense we know nowadays, but in the strongly spiritual/intuitive, bigger than life, on top of the mountains (6000 feet above good and evil) sort of way. Someone who cannot connect with others because hes caught up in intellectual spiritual realms or head spaces. Nietzsche fell into a sort of Enantiodromia, which, is a jungian term to describe being so one-sided that you fall into the opposite side of the spectrum. He lived the apollo life style, that was so part of his age, too the extent that he espoused the anti-thesis, the Dionysus lifestyle.

Nietzsche was a profound thinker and poet, a prototype of the psychologist par excellence. He could see other peoples projections easily, but never his own. With this in mind, lets look at the 'ugliest man'. In other-words, the ugliest man, is the normal man, and was always Nietzsche's shadow, as shown in much of his writing, and especially Thus Spoke Zarathustra. He wanted to be anything but, but paradoxically, it is what he wanted most at times. It is the normal man who experiences the sensing and the emotional aspects of life, which are crucial for a wholesome life. It is the normal man who actually exist in other-words. This is what Nietzsche's unconscious, his Anima, theoretically longed for. To be loved, to be normal, to be amongst other men. Nietzsche story is, fittingly, very tragic. I find that the people that are very steeped in Nietzschean thought tend to identify with too much with a strict Dionysian nihilism. Which is a shame, because I think Nietzsche, though very much birthed the concept, didn't think people would of interpreted like many do. That is, many get to caught up in the intellect and debase every experience, which lifts them up just enough to isolate them from others and just enough to fall down hard into the abyss they made for themselves. Its a vicious cycle! Perhaps getting more down to earth, forgetting his theories and the problems of society, and just feeling and sensing, would be a good way to compensate for this one-sided life style.


All this being said, take this with a grain of salt. I am not a a philosophy major who focused on Nietzsche, but my brother is. So I have had the honor to butt heads with him my entire life on these ideas, which is not to say I haven't read a good deal myself, and don't have a lot of respect for Nietzsche! (and again, sorry for writing so much, I probably over did it)

> I...what?

Yeah, I know.

> trying to explain to a friend of mine that I will not have sex with him.

That really shouldn’t require an explanation, and I can’t imagine engaging would ever go well.

> different to that

Are you British?

> (I am intrigued by high functioning schizophrenics, in all honesty, since I am very close to one and all of my information is observed and guesswork and I want to understand better.)

I’m sure there’s something you could read (1, 2, 3).

Many people with schizophrenia and psychotic disorders live fulfilling lives without medicine, too.

Living With Voices: 50 Stories of Recovery has examples of this. (edited to fix the link; not sure what happened there)

I'm glad that medicine helps so many people, but I do hope the choice to not take psychiatric medication becomes more accepted as well. People should be given the chance to explore both approaches.

Since you are worried about the label but interested in learning more about psychology and mental health, I can highly recommend this book. It's an evidence-based work written by respected researchers and clinicians in the field who cut through so much of the BS surrounding schizophrenia. It has forever changed the way I view schizophrenia and the mental health industry.

http://www.amazon.com/Models-Madness-Psychological-Schizophrenia-International/dp/1583919066/ref=cm_rdp_product

I think if you read the interview carefully, you'd see that Buhner does acknowledge the reality of very severe distress, and that he has worked successfully with some very disturbed people.

As an example of other successful ways of approaching these problems, let me invite you to check out several stories from people who either were paranoid or catatonic "schizophrenics" - and fully recovered - or who were therapists working with such people to help them heal:

Caleb’s story: https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/11/best-kept-secret/

Lois’ story: https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/11/curing-schizophrenia-via-intensive-psychotherapy/

Daniel’s story: https://www.madinamerica.com/2012/08/a-new-understanding-of-psychosis/

Eleanor’s story: https://www.ted.com/talks/eleanor_longden_the_voices_in_my_head

My story: https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/09/rejecting-the-medications-for-schizophrenia-narrative-a-survivors-response-to-pies-and-whitaker/

“Rethinking Madness”; Six case studies here: http://www.rethinkingmadness.com/download/i/mark_dl/u/4007924736/4629448798/Rethinking_Madness_complete.pdf

“Treating the Untreatable – Healing in the Realms of Madness”; 13 case studies:
https://www.amazon.com/Treating-Untreatable-Healing-Realms-Madness/dp/1855756099

“Weathering the Storms – Psychotherapy for Psychosis”; 12 case studies:
https://www.amazon.com/Weathering-Storms-Psychotherapy-Murray-Jackson/dp/1855752670

As a person who was once on the type of ward you describe, and was myself once nonfunctional and paranoid, let me say that these stories show that alternative psychodynamic approaches can work well with schizophrenia, and sometimes be profoundly successful in helping psychotic people recover. In his book "Plants and the Imaginal Realm", Buhner wrote with great insight about having done this type of depth work with paranoid and/or catatonic people.

Sure! Alexander Lowen's Fear of Life and The Language of the Body are both excellent starting points. For something a bit more technical, there's Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis.

I really wish I did - this is just anecdotal information, based mostly on my own experience.

I will say, though, that up next on my queue of books is a book called Muses, Madmen and Prophets, which I hope addresses some of these very things. I will return and report.

Thanks for asking. It is in English, would love for it to be translated and published in Turkish eventually, but right now only in English. It's published by Routledge, and can be bought from Amazon (paperback version is coming out this month, and kindle also available). https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Madness-Political-Subjectivity-schizophrenia/dp/1138840823 or through Routledge's own site: https://www.routledge.com/Meaning-Madness-and-Political-Subjectivity-A-study-of-schizophrenia-and/Rahimi/p/book/9781138840829
My name is Sadeq Rahimi.

I would recommend books by neurologist V.S. Ramachandran such as Phantoms in the Brain

From a more psychiatric slant, books by Ronald K Siegel like Whispers and Fire in the Brain are collections of case studies about delusions and hallucinations

That's not eugenics. It's economics. We would need to seek out their siblings as well if we were interested in wiping out genes. They are also only getting a month off their time.

These are both reversible treatments. None of the whopping 41 people to date have been sterilized. That's BS.

I was wondering why this article is so one sided and heavy on the history and then figure out the author wrote a book about it. This is probably just his standard lecture.

It's well-known that the stigma surrounding schizophrenia as a label has a definite negative effect on a patient's ability to manage the disorder. While the mechanisms are unknown (unsurprising, given that schizophrenia probably isn't a single illness), the practical applications of simply renaming a condition have been confirmed in Japan. The change has been well-received and hugely successful, and is a step in the right direction for the hard-won rights of mental health service users.

It may be to some, but I feel a lot of people outside the field tend to latch onto what the DSM or some smooth-talking psychologist says about personality and don't look into it. I got my information from chapter 20 of this book, by the way. Here's a preview, in case you're interested.

Agreed, absolutely not a myth.

Sachdev, P. S., & Keshavan, M. S. (Eds.). (2010). Secondary schizophrenia. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Stimulants can cause Delusional Parasitosis.

http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Oedipus-Capitalism-Schizophrenia-Gilles-Deleuze/dp/0816612250

recommended

Angelhead was pretty good.

With reservations, I'll also recommend Sybil and Children with Emerald Eyes. These two have a very old school, strictly Freudian interpretation of mental illness, and it's sort of lame and dated.

Here's one that was written by a team of doctors and a group of people with the illness so you get all the facts and a bunch of different first-hand accounts. Very easy to read as it is meant for all audiences. Diagnosis: Schizophrenia

cat litter often contains a parasite called toxoplasma gondii which has been implicated in a number of deviant behaviors and illnesses. read This Is Your Brain On Parasites for more info, it's a very good read.

Jung's Seminar on Nietzsche's Zarathustra https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691017387/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wVQOBbQYJ7MFC

It’s about $20 used. You may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere. Maybe search Abe.

This is the only thing I've come across and it's got a schizophrenia spin https://www.amazon.ca/Schizophrenia-Coping-Psychosis-Self-Handbook-ebook/dp/B004Q3RN7U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1539497033&sr=8-2&keywords=Psychosis+help

Don't know if this story is legit or not, but there was a time when people were being institutionalize din mass for civil disobedience. During the civil rights movement. Read Protest Psychosis

I'm rushing out the door rn, but I can go more in depth later. Heres the big two:

1. https://www.amazon.com/Muses-Madmen-Prophets-Hearing-Borders-ebook/dp/B000SEHBZ0
   
   
2. https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1507&context=etd_hon_theses
   
   

There's also these books on recovery from psychosis without psychiatric drugs:

https://www.amazon.com/Soteria-Deliverance-Loren-R-Mosher/dp/1413465234/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518044317&sr=8-1&keywords=soteria

https://www.amazon.com/Mad-America-Medicine-Enduring-Mistreatment/dp/0465020143/ref=pd_sim_14_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0465020143&pd_rd_r=6970J61P9HCQQ0SCXDMS&pd_rd_w=hpEty&pd_rd_wg=QlKAN&psc=1&refRID=6970J61P9HCQQ0SCXDMS

https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Psychiatry-Electroshock-Biochemical-Theories/dp/0312113668/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518044412&sr=1-5&keywords=peter+breggin

https://www.amazon.com/America-Fooled-Antidepressants-Antipsychotics-Deceived/dp/0977307506/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518044431&sr=1-1&keywords=america+fooled

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1583919066/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Related book: This is your Brain on Parasites

There's a statistical correlation between DDT and Malaria. That Pandoras Lab article if I remember correctly was an excerpt from a book

https://www.amazon.ca/Pandoras-Lab-Seven-Stories-Science/dp/1426217986/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499114916&sr=8-1&keywords=pandoras+lab

This is Your Brain on Parasites by Kathleen McAuliffe

does anyone know where I can find the complete jung's seminar on zarathustra online?

https://www.amazon.com/Jungs-Seminar-Nietzsches-Zarathustra-Jarrett/dp/0691017387

Sure, I would love to share to give you some perspective.

Within the first month she told me she had schizophrenia. Now, I've noticed while we dated that she experiences highs of feeling elated/happy and lows of withdrawal/silence. The moment she told me she must have let her guard down and was feeling comfortable enough to share, which I greatly appreciated.

Granted, I did not have much knowledge (except from old myths and movie portrayals) of schizophrenia. As our relationship progressed, I didn't question much about her illness especially during times she was experiencing symptoms of hearing voices and delusions. When asked about them though, she would become defensive and respond back that things like "well you don't tell me anything about yourself, so why should I have to tell you about what I'm going through."

I tried using logic and factual evident to refute her delusions (mainly accusations that I was falling for other girls when we're out in public). But this grew tiresome because she claims things like "I know what I saw, and it's my feeling that you're checking out these other girls."

I'm still in the relationship at the moment, but I'm not positive if I can continue it much longer. My relationship with my own family is becoming strained because of their lack of understanding of the illness, and no matter what I do to portray a good picture of her, her actions don't seem to help the cause of us being together.

I'm sorry to go on a rant here. What really did help recently was going to a bookstore and picking up a book about schizophrenia. We sit down and read this together. There's nothing more valuable than educating yourselves and it can open a bridge to learning how the illness can affect you and the partner and different methods of treatment.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

A few books. Do Babies Matter: Gender and Family in the Ivory Tower, The Mind Has No Sex?: Women in the Origins of Modern Science, Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong, and The 48 Laws of Power.

Carl Jung has been, in many quarters, a significant influence on occultism, although he hasn't been directly acknowledged by the big chaos magick writers that I've noticed. Nietzsche was a big influence upon Jung's thought which has been noticed and written about lately:

http://www.amazon.com/Jungs-Seminar-Nietzsches-Zarathustra-Jarrett/dp/0691017387/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417962404&sr=8-1&keywords=nietzsche+and+jung

http://www.amazon.com/Nietzsche-Jung-Whole-Union-Opposites-ebook/dp/B000P0JNHQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417962404&sr=8-2&keywords=nietzsche+and+jung

Have you encountered the book Muses, Madmen, and Prophets? It's been years since I've touched it (so my memory could be pretty far off), but I remember it making the case that Socrates was guilty not of rejecting the gods of his city, but of having his own additional, personal god (by means of auditory hallucinations) that the city's aristocracy rejected. Do you have any take on that?

If you do reduce your meds, inform your doctor or they get pissed and put you on depot injections from my experience :( .

How well you'll do without medication really depends how fequently you have been psychotic.

There's this book, http://www.amazon.com/Living-Voices-50-Stories-Recovery/dp/1906254222 more about living with the voices without / low medication. Look up hearing voices movement aswell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_Voices_Movement which is part of it.

Don't fall for the ignorance of stigmatized mental health.

People with schizophrenia are more often victims of violence than perpetrators.

A person with well managed schizophrenia is statistically 0% more dangerous than the total general populace.

People with depression have a higher statistical chance of violence than schizophrenics.


According to most psychologists. For example the authors of Schizophrenia For Dummies

Which is a great and easy to understand book, on a very difficult to understand topic.