The Galvins were a young Air Force family with three boys living in Colorado in 1951, the new future in the American West.
“Schizophrenia affects an estimated one in 100 people – or more than 3 million people in America, and 82 million people worldwide” 2020.In Hidden Valley Road, journalist Robert Kolker documents an American family’s incredible journey as they navigate the effects of mental illness six out of 12 children were diagnosed with schizophrenia, while others experienced sexual abuse and PTSD. Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family.
Along with the family struggles, Kolker writes of the lives and work of key scientific researchers looking into the biological and possible environmental explanations of the disease. In this story, featuring Kolker’s thorough description of the lives of each of fourteen family members, all of the medical theories and symptoms are represented and addressed through the brave interview testimonies of mother and daughters. It arises from a vague perceptual distortion from reality behaviors include delusions, hallucinations, agitation, physical violence, and sexual abuse. The history of schizophrenia begins as dementia praecox in the late nineteenth century to its present state as a little-understood array of categorical symptoms and underlying competing theories of causation and treatment. Nonetheless, author Kolker points to the parent’s (and societal) failure to dismiss the common shame of mental illness and to attack the problem as a family (and as a society). The youngest, daughters Margaret and Lindsey, expressed bitterness for not having received parental attention while all Mimi could give was directed to her sick sons. But, Mimi stayed committed to helping her sick children and providing a home for them when they struggled as adults to be independent. Some will criticize the mother for being overly strict in her upbringing practices. Why me? Why us? They are the author’s star interview subjects. The girls were the youngest, the eleventh and twelfth children, and obviously very vulnerable they endured much abuse and this is very much their story of lifelong struggle and continuous perplexity. There was arguing and physical fighting that would require medical attention. For the boys there were four sets of bunk beds in a lower room. The family house was on a cul-de-sac at the base of the foothills in Colorado Springs. Was there too much regimentation? Expectations too high? Overly strict parenting? Based upon my reading, I would rate them as good parents. She was committed to a life in the world of arts in addition to her family responsibilities. The mother Mimi upon marriage converted to Catholicism seriously learned her spiritual obligations, and imparted that devotion to her twelve children who came along in regular succession. But Don was often absent from the household, suspected of philandering, prone to referring to his kids by number not name.
The father was a military officer with both experience as a wartime navy commander and professor and falconry expert at the Air Force Academy. The two girls, the youngest of twelve children, survived lives of fear, neglect, and escape and they brought this story to light with the book author as messenger. The mental disorder struck six sons and had them committed frequently to state hospitals for a minimum three month terms, stabilized with psychotropic drug treatments with major side effects. This book tells the remarkable story of a beautiful family and a devastating illness.
0 kommentar(er)
