Beyond Madness

"At every turn, [Pruchno] puts human faces on maladies that experts sometimes reduce to abstractions.... A heartfelt and extremely informative overview of serious mental illness."

"Written from knowledge and experience by a developmental psychologist whose mother and daughter were both diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Beyond Madness is an excellent book for families affected by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or severe depression. Pruchno offers practical advice and strategies for dealing with the inevitable problems associated with these diseases, including finding a doctor, recovery, coping, and drafting advance directives. Strongly recommended."

"This engaging narrative, full of well-structured anecdotes, orients readers toward the personal, immediate effects that symptoms of severe mental illness can have on both sufferers and their close relatives. A comprehensive introductory book, Beyond Madness may prove invaluable to some."

"In this readable, engaging, and thoughtful book, Rachel Pruchno weaves together deeply personal experiences with scientific, historical, and practical information about living with and responding to serious mental illness. Genuinely novel."

"A comprehensive, holistic approach to mental illness recovery, this book will make a substantial impact on the field. I enthusiastically recommend Beyond Madness."

"Combining storytelling and research, Beyond Madness will engage both mental health practitioners and family members."

"A significant story with real-life recommendations about how we can improve our fractured mental health care system. Dr. Pruchno gives a voice to those seldom heard and seen while offering parents and policy makers helpful solutions. This is an important book that should reach a wide audience."

"As a daughter, mother, and research psychologist, Dr. Rachel Pruchno brings a unique perspective to the challenges and heartbreak that individuals and families face in navigating labyrinthine systems, from schools to hospitals to insurance companies to the criminal justice system."

"This book commands the nation's attention. Dr. Pruchno has reignited the urgent public discussion about serious mental illness on two fronts. She has combined her expertise as a distinguished researcher of brain disorders with a fearless, unsparing search into the afflictions within her family and, ultimately, into the guarded core of her own being. Her voice, aflame with eloquence and moral insistence, must not be ignored."

"Beyond Madness couples lived experience and stories with professional expertise and research to offer the promise of real hope for people in these pages."

"As a mental health professional, academic, educator, researcher, and a person with her own lived experience of suicide loss and struggles of loved ones, Dr. Pruchno provides deep and authentic solutions and education about the important connections between serious mental illness and suicide prevention. And, as a preeminent researcher focused on how mental illness affects family members, her understanding of the issues of this devastating mental illness and suicide web empowers her to offer insightful solutions."

"I've been using Rachel Pruchno's Surrounded by Madness in my introductory psychology course for several years now and have found it to be an excellent addition. The book is provocative and insightful, exposing students to the heartbreaking reality of mental illness and its devastating impact on families and communities. Not only has Dr. Pruchno lived the nightmare that serious mental illness visits upon families, but she is widely recognized as a leading researcher; thus, she clearly speaks with authority on the topic of mental illness. I eagerly await the publication of Beyond Madness and can practically guarantee that I will add it to the curriculum at Western Oregon University as soon as it becomes available."