Elyn Saks - The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness
USC law professor battles schizophrenia
The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey through Madness
04 September 2007
Elyn Saks knows all about success - she was valedictorian at Vanderbilt University, graduated with honors from Yale Law School, was a Marshall scholar at Oxford and today is a respected legal scholar at University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
And, since adolescence, Saks has battled schizophrenia and acute psychosis. After decades of hiding her illness, Saks has published a memoir about her struggles and successes in “The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness” (Hyperion, 2007).Up until now, only Saks’ closest friends knew of her condition – which she controls with daily therapy and medication.
“I wanted to write this book to give hope to people who suffer from schizophrenia and understanding to people who don’t, “ said Saks, an expert in the field of mental health law who also holds faculty appointments at the Keck School of Medicine at USC and the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine in the psychiatry departments. “I hope this story will help implode the myths that surround mental illness. And, honestly, it will be nice not to have this secret anymore.”
Schizophrenia affects approximately 1 percent of the world’s population — more than 3 million Americans — and is classified by the National Mental Health Institutes as one of the top 10 causes of disability in the developed world. A disorder of the brain, the illness causes psychotic episodes of varying duration and severity. Symptoms of a psychotic episode range from unusual thoughts or perceptions and inability to form coherent thoughts to delusions and hallucinations.
However ironic, the life of Saks’ mind has been her salvation. Even as her brain attacks her with fear and hallucinations, it also provides the source of her greatest pride and stability — her work. At USC, she throws herself into writing and spends nearly every waking hour in her crowded office in the law school. Since her arrival at USC in 1989, she has been among the school’s most productive and respected scholarly writers.
Edward McCaffery, Robert C. Packard Trustee Chair in Law at USC, was one of the early colleagues Saks confided in.
“Elyn’s contributions to the law school —as a scholar, teacher, colleague, and now associate dean for research — are extraordinary,” McCaffery said. “She’s an extremely competent person who knows how to deal with her illness. There’s nothing to do other than stand and applaud Elyn — and to learn from her.”
Saks was in her 40s before she was able to admit to herself that her illness was not going away, and that medication and psychoanalysis would be necessary for the rest of her life.
“For 20 years I struggled with acceptance... Ironically, the more I accepted I had a mental illness, the less the illness defined me — at which point the riptide set me free,” said Saks.
Posted by Elyn at 9:50 AM | Link | 15 comments
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Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
Elyn R. Saks has been to hell and back. In this articulate and at times profoundly disturbing memoir, Saks, a professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and adjunct professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, recounts her nearly lifelong struggle with schizophrenia, including voices, visions and profound depersonalization.
For Saks, as perhaps for most schizophrenics, the disease started subtly. As a child of 7 or 8, she believed she was "dissolving ... like a sand castle with all the sand sliding away." Soon she feared unnamed strangers, and by puberty she stopped eating in an effort to gain control over her life. Her symptoms grew worse as she proceeded through a restrictive high school anti-drug program and found herself an awkward outsider at Vanderbilt University.
But it wasn't until she went to Oxford University as a Marshall scholar that she truly began to lose her grip. There, the young Saks began to burn herself with "cigarettes, lighters ... electric heaters, boiling water" in response to commands from the voices in her head. And soon the words coming out of her mouth revealed the turmoil within. "They're messing with fetuses. They think it's us whereas the truth is God. Voices went, tabernacle, out to the edge of time. Time. Time is too low. Lower the boom. The TV is making fun of me."
Posted by SF Chronicle on September 5, 2007 at 1:50 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
Hi Elyn, I just finished your amazing book:) I was absolutely mesmerized by it. I laughed and I cried and everything in between. You have lived a life that I can only imagine and you have survived! I really did relate to many parts of it. I have suffered from dysthymia all of my life. I can only empathize with your depths of despair when you suffered through your episodes. You are so unabashedly honest and forthright. Be proud of your book, you will help so many people that are struggling with mental illness. Sincerely, Brenda Kennon
Posted by Bek on September 5, 2007 at 1:51 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
Just finished reading your book, "The Center Cannot Hold". I am a nurse and have struggled with mental illness and the "stigma" attached. I found your book to be very inspiring. Thank you for sharing your journey and best wishes to you always.
Posted by Mary Ann Fetterly on September 5, 2007 at 1:52 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
"In The Center Cannot Hold, Elyn Saks describes with precision and passion the tribulations of living with schizophrenia, and conjures in explicit detail a world that has gone unseen for far too long. In narrating her own capacity for success in the face of the illness, she holds out a beacon of hope for those who suffer with psychosis."
Posted by Andrew Solomon on September 5, 2007 at 2:34 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
"An extraordinary, gripping account of Saks’s struggle with mental illness . . . she refutes fearful prejudices and demonstrates the respect deserved by all people with serious mental illness."
Posted by Robert A. Burt, prof on September 5, 2007 at 2:36 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
"The extraordinary story of how an extraordinary human being responded to adversity, not once, but over and over and over again."
Posted by Lissy Jarvik, M.D., on September 5, 2007 at 2:37 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
"A remarkable narrative of a lived life . . . as profoundly provocative as it is satisfying, it is to be read and savored."
Posted by Leo Rangell, honorar on September 5, 2007 at 2:37 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
"The Center Cannot Hold should be read by anyone interested in mental illness, its treatment, the laws concerning it, extraordinary lives, or simply a good read."
Posted by Robert Michels, M.D. on September 5, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
"This book will inspire everyone who reads it to believe that people with mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, can attain the highest levels of professional accomplishment and personal happiness."
Posted by Paul S. Appelbaum, M on September 5, 2007 at 2:39 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
"A courageous, bold, touching, brutally honest, and inspiring account of a lifelong struggle against demons of the mind and the body."
Posted by Dilip V. Jeste, M.D. on September 5, 2007 at 2:40 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
amazing and painful book to read...i have a 22 year old son who battles with schizophrenia and is taking the same meds as Elyn and sees Dr. S. Marder..so i feel good about him being with the right group of professional...if there is an opportunity to meet with Elyn or sit in on one of her lectures, please let me know...my email is barbara6505@msn.com..sincerely, barb
Posted by barbara schick on October 4, 2007 at 6:11 PM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
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Posted by nqckvmca on November 26, 2007 at 4:19 AM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
Hello Elyn,
I just finished reading your book and want to compliment you for your courage and the inspiration you gave me to take with me in my study. I am studying for Psychiatric Nurse and I know my collegae students also are going to read it, so you see, even in my country (Holland) your book is an important medium that will have positive consequenses for other people with mental illness. Thank you and I wish you all the best in the future!
Posted by Henriette Ciere on December 9, 2007 at 7:12 AM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
Very well written. I congratulate you on your boldness.
Posted by linkingpro on February 13, 2008 at 4:59 AM
Re: USC law professor battles schizophrenia
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Posted by breeze on April 25, 2008 at 10:57 AM
