New Home for Ben Behind His Voices

News! This is the former site of the blog for "Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope" Please go to its new address, http://benbehindhisvoices.com/blog, where you can follow, subscribe, and see reviews, news and events! Hope to see you there!

Schizophrenia and Family: Walking the Tightrope of Recovery

Recovery in mental illness is possible, yes - but is often a tightrope walk for all involved: consumers, family, friends, providers.  To paraphrase Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, "Respect must be paid."

This is an excerpt from today's radio interview with Ray Andrewsen of WQUN AM in Hamden, CT, where he asks me about our family experience as schizophrenia developed in my son Ben.


Next Thursday, June 9, I'm honored to be the keynote speaker for Fellowship Place in New Haven, CT, one of many organizations providing much-needed support and community for those with mental illness. . 

Eighth Annual Doctor Albert J. Solnit Memorial Lecture

Advance ticket purchase is required. Tickets are $25.00 each. To purchase tickets, please click on the link on the left or call Melissa Holroyd at 203-401-4227 x111. All proceeds to benefit housing and support services to adults who suffer from chronic mental illness.

 more info: Hope to see you there if you can make it!

Fellowship Place to host our 8th Annual Dr. Albert J. Solnit Memorial Lecture: a discussion with  Author Randye Kaye, Thursday June 9, 2011 at 7:00pm, at the Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium of Yale University, 53 Wall Street, New Haven.  
Join us for a conversation with Randye Kaye, based on her book "Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope", to be published by Rowman and Littlefield in September 2011.  Kaye will share with the audience her experiences with her son who suffers from schizophrenia, how mental Illness affects the whole family and how they helped guide him on his recovery journey as he went from 7 hospitalizations to now 4 semesters on the Deans List at his school.

NAMI Family-To-Family: Happy 20th Anniversary

My son Ben is two weeks into a job. An actual job, with paychecks and everything. And by “everything”, I mean a reduction in benefits which almost wipes out the money he’s earning…but that’s another story. The main thing is that Ben is earning this money, and that feels completely different to him. The change in his self-esteem is astonishing. He has something to say when people ask him, “So what do you do?”

As the publication date of Ben Behind His Voices approaches,  I find myself thrilled that its launch will coincide with the 20^th Anniversary of NAMI’s Family-to-Family Program, because that is the course that saved my family by teaching me what I needed to know to cope with my son’s mental illness. NAMI helped me, and then I had the tools and the support to help my family – including, eventually, my son.

In January of 2002, I walked into my first F2F meeting – and I walked out completely changed. Although NAMI support groups had thrown me my first lifeline out of the hellish confusion of my son’s symptoms, I needed more. F2F was different from the support meetings in that it was a structured, once-a-week, course that was more educational in nature. In twelve weeks, I could learn about mental illness and its effect on the entire family, including the person who suffered from the illness.  This was taught by other family members who were trained by NAMI to implement the course. And – it was free.  All that was required was the commitment to attend all twelve classes, one evening a week, for 2 ½ hours each class.

What did I get?

Clarity.

Henry's Demons, review

Henry's Demons: Living with Schizophrenia, A Father and Son's Story by Patrick Cockburn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Henry's Demons is an insightful look into both the family experience when schizophrenia strikes a loved one, and into the U.K. System of care.  As a parent in the United states, I couldn't help but compare Henry's experience (e.g. months at a time in the hospital) to my son Ben's story here in the United States, where it seems that every day the hospital must justify the stay to the insurance companies.  I must admit, I was a bit jealous at first; yet, I don't see that Henry benefited much from his extended stays, so maybe not. Hmmm.

Author Reflections: "Ben Behind His Voices" launch date set

It's real! The official publication date for Ben Behind His Voices is September 16, 2011.  When you search on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, there is a listing.  As a first-time author, I have to admit that this is even more exciting than my first kiss. Yep. At least I think so - the first kiss was so unexpected (another story for another time), while this listing is the culmination of  years of writing, rewriting, query letters, bouncing back, trying again, and finding and reconfirming my own faith in the book's value to others.

Yet this is nothing - nothing - compared to the challenges Ben himself has faced in the same period of time.

Can Schizophrenia be Prevented?

If you want the facts and latest news about schizophrenia and the people affected by it (those who have been diagnosed and the people who love them), I highly recommend two amazing websites: http://www.nami.org/, and www.schizophrenia.com.

NAMI has taught me that there are nine stages of emotional response for the families of those with mental illness. Whether you are in an earlier stage like crisis/chaos, a middle stage such as anger/grief or a later stage such as understanding, information will - immediately or eventually - help to empower you.

Click on the address or title for the links to each website - NAMI's home page, and a new article found on schizophrenia.com about prevention of schizophrenia.

Another family's schizophrenia story

Before we found our publisher for Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope, my agent and I received several quite lovely rejection letters, stating how much they were moved by the story and by the writing - but that they feared it "just wouldn't sell" because of the subject matter.

Now, coming out very soon, another family's story, called Henry's Demons. This is by Patrick Cockburn, his wife, and his son - a UK family, each telling their part of the experience.

Ben Behind His Voices this summer!

The cover design has been chosen at last, and it makes the upcoming publication finally seem real. The exact date of publication is still tbd, but it should be in bookstores in August 2011, and available for pre-order at the end of June or by July. There are more updates available by either joining the facebook group "Ben Behind His Voices, the book", or by joining my e-mail list using the link on the home page at http://www.randyekaye.com/ - just specify the "Ben" list when you get to your choices.

Here are some advance comments, though!
Poignant, stark, and the energy of the scenes are set up really well. This work has screenplay written all over it. The dialogue is wonderful and the pace of the story moves briskly. – Nancy DeRosa, author of A Penny’s Worth, and There’s No Place Like Home

Dream and Reality: Happy Thanksgiving

I had that dream again.

Ben is missing. No one has heard from him since yesterday - or is it a couple of days? He isn't answering his cell phone.

No Casseroles for Schizophrenia

If you are dealing with a mental illness in your family, this blog's for you.
My memoir, Ben Behind His Voices:One Family's Journey through Schizophrenia to a New Normal (formerly titled No Casseroles for Schizophrenia) is represented by Claire Gerus, cgerus@comcast.net. I am a NAMI Family-to-Family teacher and trainer in Connecticut, and professional speaker. My son, Ben, is 26 years old and was diagnosed with a severe case of paranoid schizophrenia about 5 years ago, after many years of confusion for our family during the gradual onset phase. The purpose of the book is to (a) tell the story of Ben's onset, crisis and recovery - especially recovery. All is not lost. Ben's life is worth living, he is worth loving; (b) get the subject - and stigma - out of the closet and into the open air where it can be discussed and, eventually, accepted; (c) provide hope, and some guidelines, for families; (d) educate providers as to what the family experiences when mental illness strikes - increase empathy and respect for the family as well as the person who has the illness. Oh, yes, and attract the right publisher to my literary agent, who believes in this book as much as I do.
Randye Kaye, rep. by Claire Gerus,
cgerus@comcast.net.