"Anyone who has ever wondered how something as compelling and complex as schizophrenia could be explained by a molecular malfunction in the brain will want to read this book. Woven through the stories of patient's lives, Dr. Freedman tells the sweeping history of a disorder; how families and society have defined and confronted it over the centuries; and where psychiatry now stands. I expect this book to be required reading for students of psychology, psychiatry and mental health. [Dr. Freedman's book] has met the challenge of psychosis and beautifully tells its tale. Like modern neuroscience, The Madness Within Us delivers some solid answers to the mysteries of the mind."—Dolores Malaspina, MD, Steckler Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives (InSPIRES), New York University
"Dr. Robert Freedman is a world leading, human source of up-to-date wisdom about neurobiological and social insights regarding schizophrenia. Freedman has pioneered the use of neurophysiological and genetic probes into the basis of schizophrenia, a devastating "no fault" clinical brain disorder that strikes 1% of the world's population with cruel abandon... This is a truly unique and wonderfully insightful "scientific novel" from a world-renowned and empathetic psychiatric neuroscientist: it is a 'must read' book for mental health professionals and a lay audience alike."—David Braff, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Schizophrenia Program at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
"Dr. Robert Freedman has written a remarkable book. He moves seamlessly from history to philosophy to neural systems, and he provides compelling case examples to hold it all together. He accomplishes this task in a lively, engaging, and accessible narrative style. The book will be informative to family members who struggle to understand the experience of loved ones, as well as to clinicians who work with schizophrenia and are seeking a broad and knowledgeable perspective. Schizophrenia occurs at so many levels: genetic, neural, cognitive, pharmacological, and societal; but ultimately it exists at a human and personal level. This book masterfully touches on all these levels to provide insights on the most enigmatic of diseases." —Michael F. Green, PhD, Professor, Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior at University of California, Los Angeles
"Anyone who reads this instructive book on the neurobiology of schizophrenia will become more informed about this serious and complex illness."—Doody's
"...beautifully written, brilliant, comprehensive, and thoughtfully integrated...There are other excellent books on schizophrenia and the experience of the disorder, but this volume brings us up-to-date on neuroal processes and behavior and does so with clarity. The writing is accurate and interesting for professionals, and it will be helpful to many outside the profession, including some families of patients. Thin, tightly packed, quickly paced, alive, inspiring, and of remarkable intellectual power and depth, Freedman's volume should be widely read—it is one of the most important books dealing with mental illness of the past two decades."—Reviewed by Jack D. Barchas, MD, New York, NY in the American Journal of Psychiatry
Reviewer: Michael Joel Schrift, D.O., M.A. (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description: A prominent schizophrenia researcher attempts to explain how the clinical manifestations of this devastating disease result from sensory gating defects (the author's main area of study) in this informative book on the neuroscience of schizophrenia. Although I believe there are significant problems with sensory gating defects as a primary or single mechanism for the production of psychotic symptoms, the author is superbly able to provide understandable explanations of complex neurophysiological concepts to lay readers.
Purpose: According to the author, this is an "attempt to bridge the gap between understanding of schizophrenia as a problem in the activity of nerve cells and the human experience of having schizophrenia." The author acknowledges that the goal is not to present "a definitive solution, because one does yet exist, but rather to tell what we have learned.
Audience: The targeted audience includes "future generations of medical and graduate students and other interested people...including families and individuals who are dealing with mental illness.
Features: The book covers the mind-brain dichotomy, the clinical features of schizophrenia, sensory gating deficits, genetic contributions to sensory gating, how abnormal convictions stem from sensory gating deficits, the treatment of schizophrenia, theories of schizophrenia beyond dopamine theory, talking to individuals with schizophrenia, and the developmental course of the illness. Since this book is primarily for the public, there is not an extensive reference list in the notes section.
Assessment: Anyone who reads this instructive book on the neurobiology of schizophrenia will become more informed about this serious and complex illness. "
