Ronald Chase

An interesting narrative and quick read about a bank robber who in 1971 was able to go on the lam with $110,000 in stolen funds for a number of months due to his own cunning and what appears to be the FBI's ineptitude. Very interesting descriptions of Vietnam era "tunnel rat" activities for which the robber had experience. What I would have appreciated is a map or two of the Mars Hill, Maine area where the crime took place - it would have helped put the river, buildings, roads, and mountains in perspective.… (plus d'informations)

What an amazing book. Ronald Chase manages to open up the world of schizophrenia in two ways. First he brings us the latest findings -- which I found really interesting. But he also puts these findings into perspective by sharing with us his brother's struggle with the disease.

The book begins by presenting us with a 1950's family that looks 'ideal'. But as time passes Ronald's brother Jim's behavior takes them in a direction that no one at the time understood. He was a brilliant young man who began to have chaotic and dangerous episodes of anger. And the sad thing is that neither his family, nor the professionals they engaged were able to provide any concrete assistance. And this ultimately is what drew Mr. Chase into the hard sciences where he sought answers to the question of what causes this disease, and what contributes to it.

At times I found myself furious at the so called professionals of that time. Just as in cases of autism diagnosed in the 50's and 60's they blamed the mother. And they also pretended to have schema that could help, but which really was no better than what voodoo might have accomplished.

Enter the author's explanations of current scientific knowledge. I found them entirely credible. Not that I mean that Science has found THE ANSWER, nor that we know exactly what is going on with this evasive condition. But rather, I mean that the author did not present current knowledge as complete. He gives us the results of studies and he helps us to understand where the possible flaws are. This may be causal, for example, or merely indicate that there's an unknown we haven't discovered yet.

Excellent writing. The science is clearly explained, and the Chase family's experience very much helped to understand the effect of mental disease upon the entire family.

The book begins by presenting us with a 1950's family that looks 'ideal'. But as time passes Ronald's brother Jim's behavior takes them in a direction that no one at the time understood. He was a brilliant young man who began to have chaotic and dangerous episodes of anger. And the sad thing is that neither his family, nor the professionals they engaged were able to provide any concrete assistance. And this ultimately is what drew Mr. Chase into the hard sciences where he sought answers to the question of what causes this disease, and what contributes to it.

At times I found myself furious at the so called professionals of that time. Just as in cases of autism diagnosed in the 50's and 60's they blamed the mother. And they also pretended to have schema that could help, but which really was no better than what voodoo might have accomplished.

Enter the author's explanations of current scientific knowledge. I found them entirely credible. Not that I mean that Science has found THE ANSWER, nor that we know exactly what is going on with this evasive condition. But rather, I mean that the author did not present current knowledge as complete. He gives us the results of studies and he helps us to understand where the possible flaws are. This may be causal, for example, or merely indicate that there's an unknown we haven't discovered yet.

Excellent writing. The science is clearly explained, and the Chase family's experience very much helped to understand the effect of mental disease upon the entire family.… (plus d'informations)

Ronald Chase is uniquely qualified to write a book on schizophrenia; as a biologist he has combed research papers on the subject and as the brother of a person with schizophrenia he knows up close and personal what havoc the disease wrecks on the lives it touches. To blend these two perspectives, Dr. Chase utilizes a unique way of structuring the book: the chapters alternate between the personal story of his brother, Jim, who developed schizophrenia while in college, and the historical and scientific story of schizophrenia itself. The reader is free to either read alternating chapters first, either acquainting themselves with Jim’s story or reading the hard science; or to read them as presented. Personally I read it as presented; the short chapters on Jim’s life (hard to have much of a life when your disorder keeps you living in group home type situations and blunts your curiosity, cutting short what could have been a brilliant life) broke up the facts and figures of the hard science nicely. I found it to be the best book on schizophrenia I’ve read. Jim’s story is heartbreaking, but at the end the science gives just a little bit of hope for others with this same brain disorder- and the author makes it clear that schizophrenia *is* a disorder of the structure and chemistry of the brain, not a ‘mental’ illness that a person can just buck up and overcome.… (plus d'informations)