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Reviews
No One Cares about Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America by Ron Powers
bibliophile_bri's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great little intro book to mental health in America. It gives an excellent overview summary of history across the world and some within America while telling a personal story of the Author. Some of it gets nostalgic, but you have to recognize the personal connection for the Author. Overall I really enjoyed reading this.
joshgroven's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
4.0
i irrationally disliked this book because i was comparing it to desperate remedies by andrew scull but once i let go of it i liked it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
haileydmytrow's review against another edition
3.0
This was an extremely heavy and painful book to read, but well worth it. I have too much to say to even try to place it into a goodreads review. Hopefully that will take place in my future academic research.
emmaspaperbacks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
3.0
hard to rate because obviously this book is a mixed account of history and the author’s own experience with his schizophrenic sons (one, the main focus of his memoir portions, killed himself).
the account of history is fairly well compiled, yet clearly had an air of personal passion which makes complete sense (just be aware of this). unfortunately i got bored with his personal encounters (ahh terrible given the circumstances but true). i wonder if this would have been better split into a book for his personal memoir and a book for the history of psychiatric treatment.
what the author is saying is of course true and evident - humankind has yet to find a solution for housing and treating people with mental illness. so far, we’ve gone through institutionalization, psychiatric drugs, psychosurgery, and other forms of de-institutionalization. the author’s explanation of how prisons are essentially the new asylum in many ways reigns true today, years after the publication of the book. i did feel as though the author’s only reference for someone experiencing mental illness was his own sons and their specific diagnosis of mental illness. for example, i think he could have included personal encounters of people who experienced institutionalization both forced and voluntary for various mental illness like ocd, depression, bipolar, anxiety, etc. to create a more well rounded perspective of psychiatric hospitals.
lastly, when looking up this book i saw that the author’s wife was recently murdered. i can’t even imagine the author’s thoughts on this book’s subject matter now. this is a side note but i felt like the author realllly wanted us to feel bad for his son who drove too fast and nearly killed that girl?? that was kinda confusing to me (especially bc it doesn’t sound like he was exhibiting schizophrenia symptoms at that point in time)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol
bethalow's review against another edition
3.0
I appreciate Ron Powers sharing their very personal and tragic life story with their family. I also appreciate the stories of others and history of mental health and the progression of treatments and societal view throughout history to present. There is much work to be done in this field and the only way to make forward progress is to discuss it. Thank you, Powers Family, for sharing a portion of your life with the world in the hopes to make significant and much needed change.
lottie1803's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
yedidah72's review against another edition
5.0
Wish I could give more than 5 stars. A beautiful, well-researched and enlightening treatise on the issues surrounding the mentally ill in this country interspersed with the author's own experiences with his sons. I wish everyone had this as required reading - it does much to destroy the stigma surrounding those of us who are #mentalhealthwarriors.
edenconroy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Moderate: Drug abuse and Police brutality
quicksilver's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really intimate view at how families don’t always know that schizophrenia is going to affect them. It is also a sweeping history of the treatment of mental illness in America and of those affected. It’s a worthwhile read, but meanders quite a bit.