Rambling Into Madness

By: Chris Feld

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

WINNER, 12th Annual National Indie Excellence® Awards Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) fried Emmett’s memories and shredded his normalcy. Haunted by lurid hallucinations but determined to put his life back together, he rambles along a dangerous precipice, balancing between the normal life that he craves and the murky sea of mental illness that colors his existence. "This book is amazing! It tells the story of a person with a serious mental illness in the most honest and straight-forward way possible, with no drama, and without glossing over the facts. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to know how to effectively support a loved one with a mental illness, or anyone who is looking for some hope for a better life while suffering from a serious mental illness." Tawney E. Bass Past NAMI Affiliate President Former mental health center executive Mother of an adult with mental health issues "This book does an excellent job of painting a first-person picture of the day to day life of a person struggling with a serious mental illness. I can truly say I wish I had this book when I was still teaching advanced psychopathology to graduate students and abnormal psychology to undergraduates, I would have made it required reading. First person viewpoints of someone with a major mental illness like this protagonist are rarely this well written or this well edited. I would especially recommend this book to parents, family, and friends of anyone with a serious and persistent mental illness. The author gives vivid and realistic descriptions of the push/pull that is part of every relationship from parent to friend to therapist, in particular the “two steps forward one step back” phenomenon that is a measure of the incremental process of recovery. The story eloquently captures the frustration of parents and friends who want to be supportive but see the recurrent episodes of psychosis and serious depression, and subsequently feel thwarted in their desire to be helpful, or worse feel rejected or even abused. Emmett (the protagonist) is someone that I felt sympathy for, then a great deal of empathy. I didn't have to go very far into the book before I found myself liking Emmett very much. I highly recommend this book as a lens into a way of living and being that few of us experience. The story is great, the writing is entertaining and educational. It’s a great read." Dr. Randy Stith Ph.D., CEO and Executive Director Aurora Mental Health and Colorado Crisis Centers Member of the International Mental Health Coalition