MY SCHIZOPHRENIC LIFE: THE ROAD TO RECOVERY FROM MENTAL ILLNESS
Sandra is the winner of the 2012 Courage To Come Back Award in BC and one of the five faces of Mental Illness in Canada
Now Recommended by NAMI (scroll down) and PsychCentral
ADVANCE REVIEW - LIBRARY JOURNAL: "remarkably compelling.....will hold readers captive.....provides a surprisingly gripping narrative" (Scroll down to psychology)
Recommended by Mood Disorders Canada
June 2011 issue of the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy - "I recommend this book to students, novice therapists, clients and care givers as it not only helps us understand.....but also because it is inspirational and fosters some hope for recovery", Paulette Guitard
Five Stars on Amazon
See below for other reviews, radio and internet TV interviews with Sandra
 Vancouver artist, Sandra Yuen MacKay has an abnormality of the brain - a disease called schizophrenia. As she says, "My life is schizophrenic because I have schizophrenia. It will always be there."
Much of her life has been a struggle to cope with the symptoms of the disease (now rediagnosed as schizoaffective disorder) and the side effects of the medications required to keep those symptoms in check.
Early in her life, Sandra started to exhibit the typical symptoms of this disease, which came as a surprise to her unsuspecting family. Her book chronicles her struggles, hospitalizations, encounters with professionals, return to school, eventual marriage, and success as an artist, writer and advocate.
A STORY OF TRIUMPH WITH LESSONS FOR ALL
"There are precious few people who have experienced psychosis and can convey it accurately, clearly,and concisely. Sandra MacKay's story is an important one for all of us in the mental health field --doctors, patients, and their families. It is imperative that we take in the lessons she is imparting to us all, on how to manage, and in many ways, triumph, over chronic mental illness."
Julie Holland, MD author, Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER., New York city
COURAGEOUSLY TOLD,FAST PACED, INTERESTING AND READABLE
"A fascinating perspective of growing up and developing a mental illness early in life, courageously told! Sandra MacKay has written a fast-paced, interesting and readable experience of learning to live with a complex mental illness; the more so with the dual aspects of a psychotic and mood disorder. She writes with keen insight so that the reader is part of the experience and learns from it simultaneously. The ongoing dialogue between Sandra, her family and her caregivers offers the reader a sense of the rollercoaster ride in dealing with the mental health system and shows also her transition to the road of recovery. This is an authentic and honest journey through an illness experience that teaches us the value of individual effort and the recovery process.
Sarah Sinanan, BA, BSc. OT
Coordinator, The Art Studios Vancouver, BC
SANDRA ON RECOVERY ON BEAUTIFUL MINDS RADIO
DOWNLOAD FILE
SANDRA ON NAMI ATHENS OHIO NPR
From March 6, 2011. SCROLL down to LISTEN
Art Therapy, Artists and Mental Illness
A 15 minute interview with Sandra and Karen Ward from Co-Op Radio 102.7 FM in Vancouver, BC
LISTEN
"She offers help to those of us with the illness and also the book is a good read to anyone wanting to learn more." From Health Central
Blog Critics Review
Sandra radio interview (new window)
ISBN 978-0-9810037-9-5, 206 pages, $19.95 US distributed by Ingram and Quality Books.
BUY AT Amazon.com, Amazon.ca Barnes and Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Kindle Kobo, Nook, Google Play
|
