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A review by leahpoplestone
The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn R. Saks
4.0
Elyn is an intelligent, kind-hearted, warm, successful, individual. Elyn also has schizophrenia. The Center Cannot Hold is a memoir where Elyn speaks to her lived-experiences living with schizophrenia. It is emotional to read Elyn navigate her paranoia, her experiences in the healthcare system and her experiences with how others treated her.
Books that discuss mental illness honestly have such a special place in my heart... there is this rawness and sense of vulnerability that is so beautiful.
The overall narrative of this book is premised on how Elyn has “defied the odds” of living a fulfilling and “normal” life, despite her mental illness. Acknowledging that a bulk of her retellings was taken place in the 80s - a time where mental health and illness was so misunderstood... Elyn guides the reader through how ableist our society is. We have been wired to internalize an ableist mentality - framing disability as the ‘Other’... making you less than... which is not true. We all have intersecting identities that privilege and oppress us and affect our positioning in society.
We are always critiquing “the insane in the world”, instead of thinking about the “the world of the insane” - an ideology I learned about in my undergrad at McMaster. The former referring to how the “insane” are perceived in this world; and the latter referencing a glimpse into the mind of the “insane” and HOW they experience their reality. As a memoir, naturally, Elyn gives the reader a perspective of “the world of the insane”.
For anyone that knows me, knows how passionate I am about mental health. I absolutely adored this book and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys memoirs and books that discuss mental illness.
Books that discuss mental illness honestly have such a special place in my heart... there is this rawness and sense of vulnerability that is so beautiful.
The overall narrative of this book is premised on how Elyn has “defied the odds” of living a fulfilling and “normal” life, despite her mental illness. Acknowledging that a bulk of her retellings was taken place in the 80s - a time where mental health and illness was so misunderstood... Elyn guides the reader through how ableist our society is. We have been wired to internalize an ableist mentality - framing disability as the ‘Other’... making you less than... which is not true. We all have intersecting identities that privilege and oppress us and affect our positioning in society.
We are always critiquing “the insane in the world”, instead of thinking about the “the world of the insane” - an ideology I learned about in my undergrad at McMaster. The former referring to how the “insane” are perceived in this world; and the latter referencing a glimpse into the mind of the “insane” and HOW they experience their reality. As a memoir, naturally, Elyn gives the reader a perspective of “the world of the insane”.
For anyone that knows me, knows how passionate I am about mental health. I absolutely adored this book and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys memoirs and books that discuss mental illness.