Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

44 reviews

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Hidden Valley Road as a title and a location seems fated - the perfect metaphor for all the secrets, fear, pain, and tragedy the Galvin family experienced over the decades.

I thought the blend of family biography and history of schizephrenia research (and how the two end up intersecting in the 80s onwards) was very effective. The family is large, and I appreciated the list of names (and their dates, spouses, children) and indicator at the top of each chapter on who the focus would be.

Much like the Galvins' experiences, you're in the thick of it with them and it's only at the end, years later and with the benefit of therapy and distance (physical and temporal) that you understand all the events that had to go the way they did to end up with such a unique situation. And all the ways it could've been different for everyone if the family had different resources, lived in a different time, or made different choices. Had Mimi and Don not had 12 children, or raised them differently, or if the brothers were not quite so abusive to each other and their sisters, or if the mental health care system was not the shitshow it was (and in many ways still is), etc.

Reading the book reminded me to continue unpacking my assumptions and immediate reactions -to continue navigating in that gray zone of multiple truths and causes. Almost everyone was responsible for some element of this family's experiences - and yet everyone was also a victim. Both can be true. 

If I had to quibble, I would have appreciated seeing more discussion around the cost of mental health care - it's quite experience in the States and I think an overview of how state-led and private patient care differs would be helpful for us non-American readers. Same with the income disparity between the Galvins and Garys - a deeper look at how many of the choices (or lack thereof) that the Galvins had compared to their richer friends/counterparts would have been beneficial (it was only explored in the final chapter briefly).

Hidden Valley Road is a microcosm of society and biomedical/clinical research. And much like in the book, the discussion between nature and nurture continues. We know <i>so</i> much more than we did 50 years ago (in large part thanks to families like the Galvins), but we have so far to go in terms of treatment, social supports, and destigmatizing mental illnesses like schizophrenia. 

Sidenote - I really appreciated that the author remained removed from the story. It's obvious in parts that he would've been present in those interviews/scenes, but he never includes himself as a character.

Highly recommend - but please check out the content warnings.
CW: sexual abuse and molestation of family members within the family (and separately by a priest), violence, domestic abuse (between siblings and between couples), murder, horrific treatment of mentally ill humans in the mental health care system (including restraints and sedation), discussions of mental health and illness (depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.), sexism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Sexism

wellreadandhalfdead's review

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

While this is a nonfiction book, I thought the prose was great. Kolker writes like a fiction writer but with quotes and diary entries to back up what he's saying. It makes approaching this harrowing narrative of mental illness and family trauma a lot easier. And 'harrowing' shouldn't be taken lightly: this is a wild and painful saga with decades of events that are stranger than fiction. It also provides the names of all the family members and will tell you which family members are being talked about in the chapter. The book jumps between the story of the family and the overall history of schizophrenia as a disease, how the criteria for diagnosis were decided, and the study and debate of what causes schizophrenia. It is an insight I really appreciated, one that went along extremely well with the story of the Galvins. This book should be approached with caution as it contains first-hand accounts of pedophilia and rape as well as discussions of murder-suicide.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Rape

Minor: Drug use

no_u14's review

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

bersblue's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Emotional abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Addiction, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Violence, Suicide, Gun violence, Drug use, Death, and Child abuse

jmbz38's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Incest, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Murder, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Suicide attempt

flowchelle's review

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Murder

realpteradactyl's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Grief, Incest, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative slow-paced

4.0

God damnit big pharma 

I love how they go through the process of research. Pathway mutations!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Self harm, Incest, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, and Pedophilia

dustghosts's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Rape, Death of parent, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Incest, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Addiction, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse

dashes101's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

My first 5 star review of this year. I was so not expecting this when I picked up Kolker's book. However, I was quickly thrown into a deep dive of the family: the boys battling their disorders as well as the stigma, the parents fighting to keep their family intact, the daughters' own trauma from growing up in the Galvin household. The book was harrowing, riveting, and impossible to put down. A fascinating mix between the research efforts of the time, and the personal story of the family blended perfectly. Not only does this book show the horrific tragedy of schizophrenia separating people from reality, it shows the hope of a family, the difficult choices we make in the face of hardship, and the healing process. There are so many things this book explores, and I can't put them all in a review: this is simply a must-read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Violence