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How does one recover from the oftentimes devastating and debilitating mental illness known as schizophrenia? Robert Francis has lived with schizophrenia since his first diagnosis in 1995. Over this time, he has taken antipsychotic medication uninterrupted. Despite schizophrenia, Robert has worked as a mental health talk-therapist (a Licensed Clinical Social Worker- aka LCSW) since 2006 and he currently practices in a nursing home. In Mad Tales of a Schizophrenic, Robert details his history with his recurring episodic psychoses. Over many years, Robert has experienced the full spectrum of schizophrenia symptoms including delusions, auditory hallucinations, and associated mood disturbances but, nevertheless, he has maintained a correlated sense of humor. Despite Robert’s ongoing symptomatology, over the course of two decades plus, Robert has persisted in vocation and in a gainful sort of psychiatric recovery. Robert portrays his psychotic experiences as a common template so others too can acquire the skills, self-confidence, and persistent hope in their ability to recover and live gainfully. It is both an experiential perspective alongside a professional clinical perspective. This combination lends to a fuller appreciation of schizophrenia germane. Join Robert in his episodic regales as what he hopes can be the shortcut to the recovery efforts of others.FOREWORD BYJan Dirk Blom, MD, PhD., Clinical Psychiatrist and Professor of Clinical Psychopathology"Look no further. This is the book you have been looking for. Of all the works that have been written on schizophrenia, this is the book that you should read. That is if you want to gain an impression of what it is about and how it affects one percent of all people worldwide. Not that any two people given this diagnosis are ever the same, but a more powerful account will be hard to find.In this, his most personal book yet, he invites us into a time capsule hurtling us back into his twenties when he was on and off medication and floridly psychotic in between. The titular tales are psychopathological as well as literary gems.A better title for his book might therefore have been Rare Insights into Psychosis by a Contemporary Sage. But let’s not quibble about words with Robert Francis. He is the master here in each and every respect. Let him have the title and let us be grateful that we have his magnificent book.Leiden, March 2023"REVIEWS!“Robert shares his real-life successes and setbacks through personal stories that bring a human face to living with schizophrenia. Showing how “we live, learn and move on,” his adventures offer a unique perspective on recovery and a powerful approach to thriving no matter the challenges. The last chapter does a wonderful job tying together all the stories and threads and helping the reader see how they can use Robert’s experiences as a shortcut to recovery.” -John Torous, MD, Director, Digital Psychiatry Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical SchoolThey are certainly disturbing disruptions to the psyche but are recounted with humor and insight, such that one can identify with the author’s inner life. This reading is made even more comfortable by noting that the author subsequently became an academic and skilled mental healthcare professional. Despite the tales of madness, one cannot help but smile with every page. My favorite line was “When amid delusional terror and fleeing for one's life, allow me to recommend the Marriott!" -Karl J. Friston, MBBS, MA, MRCPsych, MAE, FMedSci, FRBS, FRS, Scientific Director Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Professor Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, Honorary Consultant The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
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