Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.86 (883 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0399153136 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-08-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
(Apr.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. He compromises his objectivity when for most of his son's ordeal—Mike gets probation—he refuses to entertain the possibility that the terrified woman whose home Mike trashed also is a victim. That Mike's act was viewed as a crime rather than a psychotic episode spurred his father, veteran journalist Pete Earley (Family of Spies), to investigate the "criminalization of the mentally ill." Earley gains access to th
Pete Earley, a former reporter for The Washington Post, is the author of seven works of nonfiction, including the bestsellers The Hot House and Family of Spies, and the multi-award-winning Circumstantial Evidence. According to the Washingtonian magazine, he is one of ten journalist/authors in America "who have the power to introduce new ideas and give them currency." Earley is also the author of two novels.
Yet he'd always been on the outside looking in. The result is both a remarkable piece of investigative journalism, and a wake-up call-a portrait that could serve as a snapshot of any community in America. The first is his son's. The second describes what Earley learned during a yearlong investigation inside the Miami-Dade County jail, where he was given complete, unrestricted access. He had no idea what it was like to be on the inside looking out until his son, Mike, was declared mentally ill, and Earley was thrown headlong into the maze of contradictions, disparities, and catch-22s that is America's mental health system. Crazy tells two stories. He'd been a journalist for over thirty years, and the author of several award-winning-even bestselling-nonfiction books about crime and punishment and society. There, and in the surrounding community, he shadowed inmates and patients; interviewed correctional officers, public defenders, prosecutors, judges, mental-health professionals, and the police; talked with parents, siblings, and spouses; consulted historians, civil rights lawyers, and legislators. Pete Earley had no idea. The more Earley dug, the more he uncovered the bi
"A Wonderful Advocacy Tool for NAMI Members" according to Diana Kern. In the book, "Crazy: A Father's Search through America's Mental Health Madness," Pete Earley tells a story that is all too familiar to NAMI members. As an award-winning journalist for over thirty years, Mr. Earley has effectively captured the absurdities of the mental health system in our country through his investigative journalism and his personal understanding of mental illness.Mr. Earley's son, Mike, has a psychotic ep. Dr. B said Very powerful. This is a must read for anyone in the mental health profession, as I am. I think its critical for practitioners to be reminded every now and then about why we got into the profession in the first place, and most importantly what it feels like to be on the receiving end of our services. This book is an intensely personal work, aside from being a fine example of the muckraking tradition that is journalism at its best. I trul. Rajesh Nair said changes your view of mental illness. If you had little idea of mental health, found mentally ill people to be severly different from you and assumed mental asylums knew what they were doing and took care of its patients, then this book will turn your whole perspective around. And then make you want to donate money and lobby legislation to change the system, because as of now, its broken.