Why We Keep the Crazy People in the Shadows
“Psychotic people have souls. They have identities. They have hope. They have dreams. They are not to be shunted away, as they were 7 centuries ago in Bedlum Asylum, beaten…” Ron Powers
New York Times bestselling author, Ron Powers, is a Pulitzer Prize winning critic and Emmy award winning television commentator. He has written numerous books, the most recent entitled: “No One Cares About Crazy People: the chaos and heartbreak of mental health in America.” He is a caring human, the husband of Honoree Fleming and father of two magnificent sons, Kevin and Dean. Both of whom were afflicted with schizophrenia. Ron lost his son Kevin to suicide one week prior to Kevin’s 21st birthday.
It would take Ron 10 years to settle in on writing this book, the book he promised himself and his family he would never write.
Ron was determined to shine a bright light into the shadows and welcome those who had lived within them for far too long, back into the light. He tells us, although no cures for mental illness exist, the quicker and more accurately the early symptoms are noticed and treated the better prospects for minimizing the effects. “The larger point in writing this then is to arm other families with a sense of urgency that perhaps came to us too late…Act quickly and keep acting.”