EP 1105B - Beyond Madness: The Pain and Possibilities of Serious Mental Illness

Leading scientist and gifted storyteller Rachel A. Pruchno, Ph.D., was shocked to encounter misinformation, ignorance, and intolerance when she sought to help her daughter, newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Turning to the scientific literature, Dr. Pruchno eventually found solutions, but she realized many others would need help to understand the highly technical writing and conflicting findings.

In Beyond Madness—part memoir, part history, and part empathetic guide—Dr. Pruchno draws on her decades as a mental health professional, her own family's experiences with mental illness, and extensive interviews with people with serious mental illness to discuss how individuals live with these illnesses, and the importance of talking about these illnesses in the open. 

Rachel A. Pruchno, Ph.D. is an Endowed Professor of Medicine at Rowan University and the director of research at the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging.