My book “The Ghosts Behind Him” published by Caitlin Press in Canada is once again available. First published in 1999 it became a valuable resource for caregivers, as well as a number of mental health physicians and researchers. The book received the BC 2000 Book Award, set up by BC government to allot funding for school libraries to purchase selected publications.

When my 21 year old son became afflicted by the baffling symptoms of schizophrenia I thought it may be just a tempory setback in his future aims and ambitions. I blamed the marijuana he’d smoked and assumed its effects would wear off, after his prescribed medication kicked in.

So wrong. My son turned out to be medication resistant and his experiences became a rollercoaster ride that went from bad to worse. The “good” voices he’d first experienced became darker with each new medication. In August 1993 – on yet another new medication- his “dark” voices forced him to stab a roomate in the group home where he was living. Earlier in the day he had asked for help but there had been no room for him in the overcrowded hospital.

For the past 25 years or so, my son has been in a state of recovery and doing well on a medication that works. He is also on Ativan to escape panic attacks because of his experiences. He has finally received some counselling from a qualified therapist. Our family is back to being whole again. My son is the kind gentle man he has always been meant to be. He was never “withdrawn and agressive” as mistakingly described on the back cover of my book.

“The Ghosts Behind Him” is once again advertised as being available on Amazon.