Crazy

A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness

By: Pete Earley

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Pete Earley had no idea. He'd been a journalist for over 30 years, and the author of several award-winning, even best-selling, nonfiction books about crime and punishment and society. Yet he'd always been on the outside looking in. He had no idea what it was like to be on the inside looking out until his son, Mike, was declared mentally ill, and Earley was thrown headlong into the maze of contradictions, disparities, and catch-22s that is America's mental health system.

The more Earley dug, the more he uncovered the bigger picture: our nation's prisons have become our new mental hospitals. Crazy tells two stories. The first is his son's. The second describes what Earley learned during a year-long investigation inside the Miami-Dade County jail, where he was given complete, unrestricted access. There, and in the surrounding community, he shadowed inmates and patients; interviewed correctional officers, public defenders, prosecutors, judges, mental-health professionals, and the police; talked with parents, siblings, and spouses; consulted historians, civil rights lawyers, and legislators.

The result is both a remarkable piece of investigative journalism, and a wake-up call; a portrait that could serve as a snapshot of any community in America.

©2006 Pete Earley (P)2006 Tantor Media Inc

Critic reviews

"Parents of the mentally ill should find solace and food for thought in its pages." (Publishers Weekly)
"Crazy is a godsend. It will open the minds of many who make choices for the mentally ill." (Patty Duke)

Hard truths that we must face

Thanks to Pete Early & his son Mike for making the choice to share his son’s story & his own experience. It is very hard to look at a system so clearly inadequate and the people with serious mental illness who are both vulnerable and underserved. As a psychologist, I have had only small glimpses into this world. I hope by shining a light on these hard truths that more of us will begin to seek & advocate for humane, compassionate solutions.

Good listen and interesting subject

Would love to hear Hot House as well. It’s a favorite book. I like all his books.

Excellent expose, but...

This book is well-written (and narrated), with the kind of investigative breadth that left me feeling as if I had actually been able to briefly glimpse many sides of the issue: the mentally ill, their loved ones, and the medical / mental health / law enforcement / social work / correctional systems.

However, I feel disturbed by the author's insistence on --- and one-sided justifications for --- the need for commitment law reform (i.e., the ability for a non-professional third-party to have someone involuntarily committed to a mental health facility), where he seems to argue in favor of removing controls which have been implemented in favor of civil rights. He focuses entirely on the negative consequences of these laws on the mentally ill, without giving even a nod to the fact that those laws are also in place to protect the non-mentally ill from being falsely committed.

Having intellectually struggled with issues of our current correctional / prison system, I keep coming to the same conclusion across a myriad of topics --- with freedom comes risk. This is true across criminal justice, social justice, medical / mental health, foreign policy, domestic security / counter-terrorism, etc.

If I want to be free from being falsely accused of mental illness and thrown into an asylum against my will, or charged as a terrorist under some blanket domestic security law (Patriot Act) and held indefinitely without any civil rights, or arrested for an activity newly criminalized (for the purpose of allowing our politicians to run on a "tough on crime" platform), then I have to assume the risk as a citizen. Which means living in a world where criminals are given the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty or let go, the mentally ill can avoid being involuntarily held / drugged unless they pose a threat to themselves / society, and social / political activists can speak their mind and cultivate dissent without fear of being thrown into a gulag by the police state. If I want to have those freedoms for myself, then I have to live in a society with criminal, mentally unstable, and controversial elements in my community. And if I want to solve those problems for myself and my loved ones, I have to do so at the family and community levels. However, it will NOT solve the problem to eliminate the civil rights of the mentally ill, because mental illness is simply a label and it can be applied to any one of us at any time. Decreasing their civil rights is the same as decreasing every American's civil rights.

Crazy

I truly enjoyed this novel. After suffering a three teir breakdown (mental, emotional, and phyisical). It was a very informitive viewpoint. Since I was not able to walk in my loved ones shoes as I went through my personal hell. This novel gave me a true understanding what it was like for them and how they went through their own hell as I questioned my sanity. I hope thoes who have not had to experiance this topic first hand listen to this book to better understand what life is like for thoes whom breakdown.

Important information about mentally ill.

Very interesting history of deinstitutionalizaion of mentally ill. Points up dire need for improvement
in treatment and care for mentally ill people. They do not belong in jail where we are presently placing them.

Really hit home

A lot of this hit home with my own struggles with the mental health system and getting my own son treatment.

This should be a staple of every sociology class

Nonfiction is usually harder to stay focused on. However, I could NOT put this book down. Having an ex spouse who is late-onset schizophrenic and beginning to experience legal troubles, I was enthralled, and often moved do tears of rage.

The system has to change. Books like this need to be required reading for psych and soc and criminal justice students--docs and lawyers too!

Not just good for nursing school

This book is eye opening to our nation's problem in handling mental illness. If we were to require high schoolers to read this book, our nation would be better off.
I would recommend this book to anyone!

Bravo

I really appreciate the perspective give from people who live with a deal with real cases. My mother has schizoeffective disorder and this book helped me to understand her world.

Mental Illness and The System

Where does Crazy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Crazy ranks high in all the audiobooks that I have listened to on the subject of mental illness, because I suffer from Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Type and this book gave me insight on how others see me in my different phases of this illness and why I should keep taking my medication.