Hidden Valley Road - as the photo above implies - I listened to this on audio rather than traditionally reading it. I find that non-fiction on audio is so much more engaging, and this one was no exception to that rule. I really enjoyed hearing about the scientific treatment history of schizophrenia in America from about the 50s to today, as well as the parts about the family history itself.
In the Galvin family, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, 6 of the 10 boys in the family developed schizophrenia, the other 4 boys and 2 girls did not. When the boys first started showing signs of outrageous behavior and psychotic breaks, this must've been really difficult for their mother. After all, we're talking about the 50s-70s here where most ill-behaved children were believed to have just "not been parented well." The huge debate of "nature-vs-nurture" has been around the 1870s but for inability to prove the nature aspects (things like genes, DNA), it was just so easy to point the finger at the nurturer (usually the mother, but whomever was the principle care-giver) or to some traumatic incident in childhood. Thus, as a mother in high society, such as the Galvins were, the need to present this "perfect family" or to avoid scorn and the spurn of distrust, their mother - Mimi - had a hard way to go. She did attempt to get help for her sons, but perhaps where she went wrong was in the way she made excuses for their behavior, the way she coddled and gave them all of her strength, leaving little (so the others claim) for the healthy children. Several of the children claimed abuse of various kinds from the affected boys such as physical and sexual abuse. To think that this was overlooked or missed as a parent must be devastating. I wouldn't have wanted to be in ANY of their shoes - not the boys so unlucky to have developed schizophrenia, nor the parents, nor the healthy children. I really think this book probably only hits the edge of the full gamut of the nightmare it must've been to be in this family.
All this aside, the most interesting thing was how many of the children developed this in one family. The research that came from studying this family (and others with multiple members positive for schizophrenia) is amazing. Eventually they were able to pinpoint certain DNA/genes that can cause the development of the disease. They studied the brain via MRIs and other technology to confirm that the brains of those with schizophrenia look different than those of a brain without the disease. It also, much like autism it is not necessarily obviously present at birth - and develops over time, albeit autism much earlier in life - with schizo usually developing in late teens or early 20s.
In the realm of genetic research, I believe they did find the genes that can develop into schizophrenia, but the fact is, it doesn't necessarily mean it will develop. But why? An interesting spin on nature vs nurture is the discoveries/assumptions made about a chemical substance called Choline. Choline is one of the substances found in cigarettes. One researcher, upon noting that schizophrenia patients craved constant cigarettes, found proof that the choline in the cigarettes produced a calming sensation and that is why for those patients, they heavily used them. The researcher then tried to tie that to diet, to see if choline consumption in diet could affect the fetus's chances of later developing schizophrenia, however, the only way to do this was via a clinical trial that will last for at least another 20 years. They took patients who had the genes of schizophrenia, and when they became pregnant, had them take supplements that increased choline, then will study those children over the next decade or so to see if they develop schizophrenia or not. Will the patients with the placebo (rather than the choline) be at greater risk of developing schizophrenia? Will choline in utero be the answer to eradicating this brain disease? It's just fascinating to think in less than 50 years, this may be the key to ending Schizophrenia and perhaps other brain-related diseases.
If we think on mental illness as a brain disease, it takes so much more of the stigma from it. One cannot help from which genes one comes from, and these types of ailments are just a combination of genes - it's really a luck of the draw genetically. What if we could eradicate all brain disease related mental health issues from us as we eradicated polio? Just from something as "simple" as our nutritional supplements? It's amazing to think of how complex our bodies and brains are.
As for the audiobook, I'll give the narrator a 4.5 - I enjoyed listening and he was engaging in the telling of the story.
As for the story itself, I do have some criticisms - such as - I felt like the story did not have to be 13 hours long. I would've rather it have been about 8 hours long, because that is where i found myself starting to wish it was just over. Personal problem perhaps. LOL.
I also am a bit confused about why only ONE of the sibling's children were discussed. Perhaps the others did not want to be involved in the project, but it would've been interesting to get some statistics on how many of the brothers with the disease have children that developed it? Did any of the children without the disease manage to have children with the disease? In addition to following the children of Choline through a clinical study, it would be great to see Mimi's descendents also participate in a study for a few more generations to see how many of 12 children produced children with the disease as well? This piece of the puzzle for me is missing.
The ending, focusing on Lindsey's family (one of the two sisters), was really not needed unless we were going to look at everyone's children for context. I disagreed with Lindsey's assumption that since she was able to get her son (anxiety) expensive help, that this is why he "turned out so well" - that may be true, however, her son did NOT have schizophrenia. And she does not have 12 children to take care of. I also did not care for Lindsey's judgement of her sister's decision to cut ties with the family. Lindsey found strength and healing through serving her family; her sister found strength in divorcing herself from those that hurt her. In the world of therapy, probably each of those avenues has it's merits. No two people can heal the same way, so I although I personally in my heart think that families should work to heal together and keep their relationships, I totally understand why for some so abused would choose not to - and that's totally their right and they should not be made to feel less than for choosing it.
Overall I'd give this audiobook a 4 star rating, but I do believe it would've been better if it had been shorter, and if the statistics of the family after the decades of hearing them grow up, would've been a nicer closure. I still recommend this book, it was very informative on the disease and very eye-opening on the history of the disease. Those of you interested in psychology, psychiatry, or neurological studies, would especially enjoy this book!
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