IN SEARCH OF SANITY

by Gregory Stefan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 29, 1965

I'm afraid you could write a book about it and you still wouldn't understand it."" This refers to pseudonymous Gregory Stefan's schizophrenic crackup; it was said by his attending psychiatrist at the sanitarium where he was institutionalized; he has now written a book about it and he claims that he does understand the cause which psychiatrists both inside and outside did not, and that he has achieved a cure which they failed to give him through therapy, shock and pills. Most of the book is in diary form covering, colloquially, the period when, after twenty eight happy years (he loved his parents; he loved his wife) he began to snap; he became irritable, indifferent, impotent, with moments of acute panic. After the release from the institution which also failed to help Marilyn Monroe (the dedicatee of the book) he got help (by mail and in person) from two doctors, Canadian and American, who supported his belief in the biochemical nature of mental illness, recommended a massive program of Vitamin B, which he then implemented with personal discipline and faith. He also advocates some sort of mutually rehabilitative group, patterned after A.A. to help other schizophrenics... More medical men than Stefan credits do believe in the possible chemical cause of mental disturbance, but this is of course a very unresolved area. Stefan's book, which seems to be quite lucid even when he is most disturbed, is to be read as personal experience rather than scientific substantiation.

Pub Date: Jan. 29, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: University Books

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1965

Categories: NONFICTION