Rethinking Madness

Book excerpt: As the research continues to accumulate, we find that the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia and the other related psychotic disorders has lost virtually all credibility. We've learned that full recovery is not only possible, but may actually be the most common outcome given the right conditions. Furthermore, Dr. Paris Williams' own groundbreaking research, as mentioned in the New York Times, has shown that recovery often entails a profound positive transformation. In Rethinking Madness, Dr. Williams takes the reader step by step on a highly engaging journey of discovery, exploring how the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia has become so profoundly misguided, while crafting a much more accurate and hopeful vision. As this vision unfolds, we discover a deeper sense of appreciation for the profound wisdom and resilience that lies within all of our beings, even those we may think of as being deeply disturbed, while also coming to the unsettling realization of just how thin the boundary is between so called madness and so called sanity.