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Rachel Pruchno is Endowed Chair & Professor of Medicine at Rowan University's School of Osteopathic Medicine and Director of Research at the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development & Family Studies at Penn State University. Dr. Pruchno has been the Principal Investigator on numerous research grants funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Aging, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Retirement Research Foundation, and the Cleveland Foundation. She has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals, authored 10 invited book chapters, and co-edited "Challenges of an Aging Society: Ethical Dilemmas, Political Issues." She has served as Editor-in-Chief of "The Gerontologist," a leading scientific journal, since 2011. She is married with four children, two of whom are dogs.
Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite
Surrounded By Madness: A Memoir of Mental Illness and Family Secrets by Rachel Pruchno Ph.D. is a heart-breaking memoir of a woman who loses both her mother and daughter to mental illness. It is an honest account of a woman's desperation and powerlessness in handling a destructive illness. She tells readers to come out into the open about the illness if anyone in the family is suffering from it instead of hiding it, thinking of it as a stigma. The book also brings to light the plight of mentally ill patients and how badly equipped the system is to give them proper care and support. The author's story is gripping and thought provoking at the same time, bringing to light how their love holds them together during this dark phase.
The author speaks about how the strangling grasp of mental illness destroys the person and, without being aware, how the family members succumb to the stigma of this illness and hide it. The book is a must-read for those families who are battling with this illness in their family and also to psychologists, therapists, hospitals, and psychiatrists who deal with these kinds of patients daily. It is a good read and enlightening. The author tries to protect her marriage and her son while dealing with the mental illness of her mother and daughter. It is an empowering story and the discussion questions at the end of the book will help readers evaluate what the author has tried to convey.
