Thank you for your clear, cogent, concise and scientifically accurate cover package on “The Mystery of Schizophrenia.” When the March 11 NEWSWEEK arrived on my doorstep, I–as a psychiatrist working full time in a community mental-health center in Philadelphia–took a deep breath before reading the articles, knowing that many of my schizophrenic patients, together with their family members, would be voraciously reading it. I am grateful that your exposition of schizophrenia was informed, thorough and balanced. While it emphasized the potentially and often devastating nature of the disorder and the difficulties involved with its treatment, it nevertheless held open a door of hope for individuals burdened with this treatable, if not yet curable, disease. George W. Sowerby Jr., M.D. John F. Kennedy Community Mental Health Center Philadelphia, Pa.
Many relatives of people with severe untreated mental illnesses advocate for more humane treatment laws that allow judges to consider past history or signs that someone needs treatment ("‘Is There Trouble With Jim?’" March 11). As we’ve seen countless times, waiting until a mentally ill person is dangerous enough to be arrested before ordering treatment can result in tragedy. Intervening before a crisis can stop the revolving door of homelessness, incarceration, suicide and sometimes violence that traps many people who have severe untreated mental illnesses–and are incapable of understanding their need for treatment. Studies show that the majority of patients who initially refuse medication retrospectively agree with the decision to medicate them without their consent. Wouldn’t it have been far preferable to treat Andrea Yates before she killed her children, instead of waiting until after their murders? Mary T. Zdanowicz, Executive Director Treatment Advocacy Center Arlington, Va.
Our 5-year-old son was recently diagnosed with emerging early-onset schizophrenia. I know that some people reading this are thinking that I must be wrong. I’m not. Like Mindy Greiling (in your story), I have listened to my son outline his plans to kill me (he’s going to cut off my head with a knife), plans he receives from a hallucination named Gordon. We’ve gone through months when he ate only prepackaged and raw food because he was sure I was poisoning him. Neighbors had radios in their heads, he said, so they could talk about killing him. He even believes that we are just one in a series of families that he has had, all of whom he has killed in various ways. Some of the meanest voices he hears belong to these former family members who hate him for killing them. Schizophrenia has stolen my son’s childhood. It has turned his life into a perpetual nightmare that our whole family must live in. The 100mg of Thorazine he takes daily has quieted the voices and hallucinations a little, but not as much as we’d hoped. He is “OK” enough to live at home right now and attend a special school, but we worry constantly about what the future will bring. Anything, whether it’s an article or a movie, that helps to educate the public about this devastating disease is greatly appreciated by those of us who deal with it daily. On behalf of my son, I thank you. Kelly Blacker Archbald, Pa.
The great tragedy of Andrea Yates and the triumphs of John Nash as depicted in “A Beautiful Mind” have forced schizophrenia out of the darkness of ignorance and into the public consciousness. Those of us who study and treat serious mental illness are saying, “It’s about time.” We have learned a great deal from these stories. Andrea Yates and her family were probably failed by the health-care system, and Professor Nash is an anomaly among people with schizophrenia because treatment with medication is necessary for improvement in the vast majority of patients. As Sharon Begley’s story so effectively points out, schizophrenia is indeed a mysterious illness, but it has become less so as we uncover more information about the biologic underpinnings of the disorder and improve upon our treatments. Older medications, like those taken by Professor Nash, were laden with side effects ranging from severe sedation to Parkinson’s disease-like shaking or stiffness to sexual dysfunction, among others. Newer medications can control the symptoms of schizophrenia with fewer visible and invisible side effects, yet they are not completely without risk. Weight gain, cardiovascular problems, hormonal imbalances and somnolence must still be considered. And, as sick as some of our patients are, they are aware of side effects and often stop taking medications because of them. Newer generations of antipsychotic medications are on the near horizon with the potential to allow patients to awaken from psychosis and function well in society, perhaps even better than they can with currently available treatments. Thank you, NEWSWEEK, for your breakthrough reporting on schizophrenia. I hope others in the news media will follow your lead and report more frequently about schizophrenia and research on other mental disorders that are so prevalent and devastating in our society. Andrew J. Cutler, M.D. Clinical Assistant Professor Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine University of South Florida Orlando, Fla.
I read with interest your story about schizophrenia, but think you were mistaken in implying that Abraham of the Bible’s Old Testament may have been schizophrenic because he followed God’s instruction to sacrifice his son Isaac. To people of faith, Abraham was a man of God whose own faith was being tested. The voice he heard was very real–not at all a phantom voice in his head. And God spoke to him again to tell him not to sacrifice his son. Stacey Paschal Decatur, Ga.
As a 29-year-old schizophrenic who is frustrated by the lack of public exposure to and education about my disease, I was happy to see it had made your cover story. In reading the articles on schizophrenia, however, I was disappointed that you didn’t more vigorously dispel the leading myth about schizophrenic psychosis–that it causes us to commit violence and homicide. The truth is that the vast majority of schizophrenics are humane and nonviolent their whole lives. Unfortunately, it seems that the public learns something of schizophrenia only when there’s a sensational incident like those involving Andrea Yates or John Hinckley Jr. [who shot President Reagan and his press secretary, James Brady]. Such associations with schizophrenia in the public’s mind are much of the reason that I cannot tell a first date or potential employer the most overpowering aspect of my life without adverse consequences. Jason Ratcliff Denver, Colo.
Punishing Enron
Please tell me what I really want to know about Enron’s Jeff Skilling: Is he toned? Who makes his suits? What size suit does he wear? How high are the heels of his shoes? You provided all this information on former Enron executive Rebecca Mark, but left your readers in the dark on Skilling. Come on, NEWSWEEK, you can do better! Kathleen McCreery Merrill Toledo, Ohio
Needed: Courage and Reason
If only more Palestinians and their leaders felt as Hady Amr does. Unfortunately, it seems that nonviolent protest is not the weapon of choice. Of course, if it were, this second intifada would not have begun, and the only method needed to arrive at a solution would be negotiation. At this point, however, even if a responsible Palestinian leadership did emerge to lead its people to peace, how could Israel afford, with the safety of its citizens on the line, to once again place its trust in a Palestinian generation raised to hate? Daniel Loew Columbus, Ohio
