The Center Cannot Hold

By Elyn R. Saks

Subjects: School of Medicine, Saks, elyn r , 1955-, Biography / Autobiography, Personal Narratives, University of California, San Diego. School of Medicine, Mental Illness, Case studies, Teachers, biography, Biography And Autobiography, Case Reports, Social Scientists & Psychologists, Psychology, Schizophrenia, Biography, Schizophrenics--biography, 616.89/82/0092 b, Nonfiction, Mental Disorders, Faculty, Biography & Autobiography / Social Scientists & Psychologists, Personal Memoirs, Schizophrenics, College teachers, Educators, University of California, San Diego, Rc464.s25 a3 2007x, Biography & Autobiography, Women, San Diego University of California, California, Schizophrenics, biography, Biography/Autobiography, Mental illness, Gould School of Law

Description: Elyn R. Saks is an esteemed professor, lawyer, and psychiatrist and is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Law School, yet she has suffered from schizophrenia for most of her life, and still has ongoing major episodes of the illness. The Center Cannot Hold is the eloquent, moving story of Elyn's life, from the first time that she heard voices speaking to her as a young teenager, to attempted suicides in college, through learning to live on her own as an adult in an often terrifying world. Saks discusses frankly the paranoia, the inability to tell imaginary fears from real ones, the voices in her head telling her to kill herself (and to harm others); as well the incredibly difficult obstacles she overcame to become a highly respected professional. This beautifully written memoir is destined to become a classic in its genre.