"Divided Minds"

Over spring break I finally had the time to leisure read.  After hours in Barnes & Noble I found a book called "Divided Minds"  This is a book about two twins: one who is diagnosed as a narcoleptic paranoid schizophrenic (Pammy) and the other becomes a psychiatrist (Lynnie).  When I read the back before buying this book it immediately grabbed my attention.  Not only do I love learning about schizophrenia but this story is told in a diary format between two sisters.  Just like "The Silent Room," that I talked about in my past blog, this book takes you through the mind of a schizophrenic.

One night when Pammy was feeling low, her roommate read her poetry.  This was a changing point in her life.  Soon Pammy realized that she had a gift.  She was an incredible writer.  Pammy wrote an essay about the ups and downs of her experiences with schizophrenia and all she has gone through because of it, along with a letter to the editor of Harvard's newspaper, asserting the right of the disabled, especially those with mental illness, to be treated as human beings.  Soon after she receives a call from Bob Roberts, the editor, "Your letter was quite articulate.  I'd be eager to have you write a longer piece tied into the current discussion of health-care reform."  Pammy accepts.  Soon after her phone was ringing off the hook with people sharing inspirational stories and complimenting her piece.  Then, Pammy receives a letter, "I am pleased to inform you that you are the first place winner of our 1993 Mental Health Media Award for your article."  Pammy is a graduate from Brown University, an award winning poet and an extraordinary writer.  She proves that although she has schizophrenia, schizophrenia doesn't have her.  

The most interesting part of this book was this quote by Lynnie talking about Pammy:

"On subways she's the kind of person who makes people nervous, one of those nameless, faceless street beggars who stumble about talking nonsense to themselves.  Or one of the drunks who camp on doorsteps, the derelicts that people curse, step around, or simply cross the street to avoid.. To the rest of the world she is not a brilliant, compassioante, incredibly talented poet and writer.  Other people don't see in her their aunt, or sister, their next-door neighbor laid low by an incurable illness. " 

(Pammy to the right and Lynnie to the left)

The reason why I want to be a psychiatrist is because of that quote by Lynnie.  Pammy has a family, a background, she was us at sometime.  I feel like people tend to forget that mental illness are just that, illnesses.  They effect a person but they don't define them.