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Surrounded by Madness
- A Memoir of Mental Illness and Family Secrets
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
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Publisher's summary
"What was the likelihood my adopted daughter would have my father's hazel eyes and my mother's mental illness?"
In this fiercely candid memoir, Dr. Pruchno, a scientist widely acclaimed for her research on mental illness and families, shows how mental illness threatened to destroy her own family. Not once, but twice. As a child, she didn't understand her mother's episodes of crippling sadness or whirlwind activity. As a mother, she feared her daughter Sophie would follow in the footsteps of the grandmother Sophie never knew.
Unraveling the mysteries of her mother's and daughter's illnesses, Pruchno fought to preserve her marriage and protect her son. But it was not until she came to terms with her own secrets that she truly understood the destructive and pervasive effects mental illness has on families. Surrounded by Madness is transforming. It will empower families to stop hiding and start talking when mental illness strikes.
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In an idyllic Los Angeles neighborhood, where generations enjoy deep roots in old homes, the O’Rourke family fits right in. Miriam and Craig are both artists and their four children carry on the legacy. When their teenage son, Nick, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, a tumultuous decade ensues in which the family careens off the conventional course. Like the 10 Biblical plagues, they are hit by one catastrophe after another: violence, evictions, arrests, a suicide attempt, a near-drowning - even cancer and a brain tumor - play against the backdrop of a wild teenage bacchanal.
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So Beautifully Written
- By Michael on 08-01-22
By: Miriam Feldman
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An Uncomplicated Life
- A Father's Memoir of His Exceptional Daughter
- By: Paul Daugherty
- Narrated by: Robert McCollum
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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A father’s exhilarating and funny love letter to his daughter with Down syndrome whose vibrant and infectious approach to life has something to teach all of us about how we can better live our own. Jillian Daugherty was born with Down syndrome. On the day Paul and Kerry, her parents, brought her home from the hospital they were flooded with worry and uncertainty, but also overwhelming love, which they channeled to “the job of building the better Jillian”. While their daughter had special needs, they refused to allow her to grow up needy - “expect, don’t accept” became their mantra.
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A Story on the Beauties of DS
- By Matthew on 04-16-23
By: Paul Daugherty
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The Undocumented Americans
- By: Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
- Narrated by: Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was on DACA when she decided to write about being undocumented for the first time using her own name. It was right after the election of 2016, the day she realized the story she'd tried to steer clear of was the only one she wanted to tell. So she wrote her immigration lawyer's phone number on her hand in Sharpie and embarked on a trip across the country to tell the stories of her fellow undocumented immigrants—and to find the hidden key to her own.
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Raw, heartbreaking - we can do better by others
- By RapaciousReader on 04-11-20
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Because I Come from a Crazy Family
- The Making of a Psychiatrist
- By: Edward M. Hallowell
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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When Edward M. Hallowell was 11, a voice out of nowhere told him he should become a psychiatrist. A mental health professional of the time would have called this psychosis. But young Edward (Ned) took it in stride, despite not quite knowing what "psychiatrist" meant. With a psychotic father, an alcoholic mother, an abusive stepfather, and two so-called learning disabilities of his own, Ned was accustomed to unpredictable behaviour from those around him and to a mind he felt he couldn't always control.
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Love and connection permeates through this book!
- By Steve Steinmetz on 06-29-18
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Invisible Child
- Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
- By: Andrea Elliott
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrea Elliott follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani, a girl whose imagination is as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn shelter. In this sweeping narrative, Elliott weaves the story of Dasani’s childhood with the history of her ancestors, tracing their passage from slavery to the Great Migration north. As Dasani comes of age, New York City’s homeless crisis has exploded, deepening the chasm between rich and poor. She must guide her siblings through a world riddled by hunger, violence, racism, drug addiction, and the threat of foster care.
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Narration is completely over the top
- By Heather on 10-14-21
By: Andrea Elliott
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My Lobotomy
- A Memoir
- By: Howard Dully, Charles Fleming
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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"In 1960 I was given a transorbital, or 'ice pick' lobotomy. My stepmother arranged it. My father agreed to it. Dr. Walter Freeman, the father of the American lobotomy, told me he was going to do some 'tests'. It took 10 minutes and cost 200 dollars." Assisted by journalist/novelist Charles Fleming, Howard Dully recounts a family tragedy of Sophoclean proportions.
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Freeman's Folly
- By James Gordon on 10-28-07
By: Howard Dully, and others
What listeners say about Surrounded by Madness
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- PCT HIKER
- 10-03-23
Good read and hard to put down.
This is such a tragic story. Sophie was adopted as a newborn by a couple who were loving, kind, responsible , and thrilled to finally become parents. Both of Sophie's biological and birth grandmothers were diagnosed with severe mental illnesses. Despite the love and seemingly perfect upbringing, Sophie was diagnosed with an SMI that became dangerous and nearly out of control as the years passed. It made me wonder if Sophie was doomed to suffer from the start due to circumstances outside anyone's control. What treatment could have helped Sophie and the thousands of others homeless and suffering? Meds help with the symptoms, but the person has to be willing to take them. Lots of stigma and lack of access connected to treatment.
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- Heather B
- 10-08-23
I felt ALL of this and more
Surrounded by Madness is a mother's story. A family's story... a story about mental illness, the damage it causes to the sufferers and to those around them. I am a mother too- of a very mentally ill child- who is now an adult. This was my story in many ways. My own thoughts were racing as I listened, waiting to hear if her outcome would be better than my own. It is a story of a mom, who loves her child and never- not even after everything, loves her daughter with all of her heart.
I feel that.
I, too, am right there with you.
I also lost my own mother to suicide when I was young- younger even than the author's own. This is a story everyone can benefit from hearing... so you know you are not alone.
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- yelena
- 11-06-18
surprisingly good!
It was as if
my story with my daughter had been told. Very well written and the delivery of narration was a bit robotic at first, was also quite good.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Animal House
- 02-17-19
Couldn’t turn it off
I don’t usually read the descriptions of books before I purchase one, if the audio sample interests me I go from that so I can end up surprised. That being said I thought I was about to listen to something about life with a adhd child, I got so much more!! This was a incredible listen I didn’t want it to end...
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2 people found this helpful
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- KatTayls
- 08-19-23
Solid read
I was hooked by the first chapter and struggled to put it down. Great read!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lizette Rivas
- 10-24-18
great read. I would definitely recommend it.
I loved this book. it was hard to put it down and would recommend to anyone that is looking for a good read regarding memtal illness
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2 people found this helpful
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- John from NorCAL
- 02-18-24
Sad but true
Sophie’s story is extremely sad. What could her parents have done differently?
I think waiting until she hit rock bottom was a mistake. I think more time and compassion may have slightly helped.
There very strict rules did not help her, only there household.
Sure, there are limits but making her clean her room is a bit much in that situation. Both parents have busy working careers and little time for their children.
Perhaps stricter rules on taking her meds and using street drugs, but again difficult to enforce. Perhaps impossible after the age of 18. I totally agree, the mental health system is broken, and mostly dysfunctional.
Let’s please try to pass laws and provide more resources to care for those struggling with severe mental health issues.
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- C. P. Rolston
- 10-07-18
Recommended for anyone raising a “difficult” child.
I went to school with the author’s husband so I thought I knew the family, but the story begins after graduation. As it turns out, I had no idea the hell they were going through. If you or someone you know is raising a “difficult” child this is a must read. It is billed as a memoir but it reads like a mystery. With every chapter I kept thinking surely they will figure this out! Pruchno exposes not only the difficulty of raising a child with mental health issues but the shortcomings of our system for supporting such families. It is raw, emotional and personal.
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3 people found this helpful
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- JoJo
- 09-13-20
Great listen.
Informative, real, insightful, and interesting. I would recommend this book for professionals and anyone interested in the confusing world of mental illness.
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- Jean Jazz
- 09-11-23
A courageous memoir
This is such an honest and heart wrenching account of loving someone with severe mental illness.
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