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A Hidden Madness Reviewed By June Maffin of Bookpleasures.com
- By June Maffin
- Published October 16, 2012
- Health & Fitness
June Maffin
Reviewer June Maffin:Living on an island in British Columbia, Canada, Dr. Maffin is a neophyte organic gardener, eclectic reader, ordained minister (Anglican/Episcopal priest) and creative spirituality writer/photographer with a deep zest for life. Previously, she has been grief counselor, broadcaster, teacher, journalist, television host, chaplain and spiritual director with an earned doctorate in Pastoral Care (medical ethics i.e. euthanasia focus). Presently an educator, freelance editor, blogger, and published author of three books, her most recent (Soulistry-Artistry of the Soul: Creative Ways to Nurture your Spirituality) has been published in e-book as well as paperback format and a preview can be viewed on YouTube videos. Founder of Soulistry™ she continues to lead a variety of workshops and retreats connecting spirituality with creativity and delights in a spirituality of play. You can find out more about June by clicking on her Web Site.
Author: James
T. R. Jones
ISBN: 978-061557515546
Over
three hundred brightly costumed Disneyland audio animatronic children
of the world sing “It’s a small world after all.” As I
read A Hidden Madness, I couldn’t get the Disney music or lyrics
out of my head. “It’s a world of laughter, a world of
tears; it’s a world of hopes, it’s a world of fears. There’s so
much that we share that it’s time we’re aware, it’s a small
world after all.”
It *is* a small world and sadly, it’s
one where many who suffer from mental illness become victimized by
stigma, keeping their illness a secret to save themselves from
painful rejection and ridicule. Faced with living with the
frustration of chronic illness, the mentally ill are also faced with
discrimination and the knowledge that most people cannot understand
the path they walk.
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law (University of Louisville) law professor James J.R. Jones knows this path only too well. Despite suffering for
over thirty years from bipolar disorder; despite hiding his illness
for decades from co-workers; despite a childhood replete with
bullying; and despite five hospitalizations in psychiatric
facilities, the author finally realized that hiding his reality of
bipolar disease, was killing him. He experienced the hell of
mental illness that can take its toll in a variety of painful ways:
an inability to get along with people, dependence on others;
powerlessness to deal realistically with real-world issues; inability
to handle criticism appropriately; continually dwelling over problems
(perceived and/or real); and a physiological reaction to life’s
stressors. Jones has experienced all of these and yet somehow,
he had the determination and tenacity to believe in a better tomorrow
for himself and for all who suffer from mental illness. In 2009, he
began to let others know and two years later, he published A Hidden
Madness.
While the neediness of the author (to be liked by
others, to be validated, affirmed, encouraged) is a window into
mental illness that may be uncomfortable for some readers, the
author’s open and frank self-reflection and his desire to write a
book that will be of help to others suffering from mental illness
overrides any personal concern the reader may have along those lines.
However, because A Hidden Madness is a book of humanity
and hope for those who suffer from mental illness, those who love,
are friends with, or professionally care for the mentally ill, this
reviewer wishes that the author had included a sub-title to at least
allude to the hope available to those who suffer from mental
illness.
This hope emerges in the story that the author weaves
about his personal life and continues throughout the book, gently
reminding readers about the importance of appropriate use of
medication and therapy; of having loving family and supportive
friends; of being attentive to coping mechanisms; and of having a
personality that defies surrender to doom-and-gloom medical
diagnoses, but instead rises and marches to the drum that refuses to
let disease control one’s life.
The author has been
blessed with such a personality trait. He has been blessed with
a solid education that give him the ability to write. And, he has
been blessed with a calling to talk about - not keep silent any more
- about his ongoing journey with mental illness. For the
countless millions whose lives have been affected in some way by
mental illness, the response to the publication of this book is
“Thank you.”