The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness

What a beautifully written book. Makes a good self help book for people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Showed me there’s hope despite such a severe mental illness. And it goes in depth with Lori Schiller’s therapy sessions with show valuable skills. This book is very informative for people that want to learn more about schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. I strongly recommend this book for anyone struggling with schizophrenia or wants to learn more about it. Bravo. This is the best book I’ve ever read. Lori Schiller’s story is so inspirational. Hope you enjoy peeps.

The Quiet Room is a fascinating read. While certainly not the best written book out there, I was amazed how drawn to the story I was, page by page, hour after hour. What makes this book work is its readability. It's fast paced, haunting, troubling, and unflinching. So many memoirs seem to have an undercurrent of triumph over adversity that takes away from the story itself - as if the author is distancing themselves from their struggle. Here, thankfully, the struggle is shown as a part of her life that cannot be excised. What's more, this is one of the better descriptions of the terrors of mental illness I've come across. Time and time again, we see how Schiller is tormented by her mind to the point of absolute desolation. Loss of control is a terrifying thing and Schiller knows this better than most and her description of this lack of control is powerful. In reading this, I kept thinking, "how many of our thoughts are really our own?" The dialog in our own minds may not be as hostile, loud, and violent as Schiller's but who's dialog is it? Our parents'? Society's? How in control of our own minds is even the average person? Of course, we have no way to determine that and 15 minutes of meditation will make clear that we are hardly running the show. More than just highlighting the landscape of mental illness, this story and book shows us the complexity of the human experience from everyone involved. For those of you looking for the uplifting back-story of family love and support, it's there as well. But Schiller does not gloss over how hard this was on everyone she knew. She takes us into the awkwardness, the fear, and the helplessness of everyone who knew her - to the empty places beyond hope, beyond prayer. Certain family members and friends wrote chapters in the book and they pull no punches. Mental illness, and addiction for that matter, is a family problem. No one is spared and the resilience shown by this family, at the risk of sounding like a Hallmark card, is impressive. When I buy memoirs like this, I'm always looking for a story about a mind at the end of its tether. In The Quiet Room, I got it. A great book.

I enjoyed the book as it does have some joy but there were times when I had to stop reading. I felt so much empathy for Lori and her family.

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about mental illness in general including schizophrenia but for some reason it had never occurred to me how brutal, constantly hellish living with schizophrenia really is. This book describes that hell vividly and allows the reader a peek into a world that is frightening, disturbing and painful. Lori Schiller and her co-author does a wonderful job at describing the experience of both family and patient during the ups and downs of severe mental illness. We get to understand the horror of having voices constantly screaming vile, obscene attacks, commanding violence and self harm and drowns out the patient's own thoughts and will with their constant presence from which there is no escape. Although, as outsiders who have never experienced schizophrenia ourselves, we can't fully understand the terror many people with schizophrenia live with on a daily basis The Quiet Room allows us a glimpse better than any other I've come across. Lori Schiller's experience not only allows us an unprecedented understanding of the schizophrenic experience but it also gives us hope that insight and recovery is possible, that not all hope is lost when a loved one develops mental illness. Lori herself is a testament to the fact that treatment can work and lives can be salvaged even after so much has been lost. It's a testament to the fact that love, caring and persistent work of friends and family does matter and that hope is not lost even when it seems so bleak. To family members of those with mental illness and the mentally ill themselves this is such an important message. I highly recommend The Quiet Room to anyone interested in mental illness and want a better understanding of what someone with this horrible disease experiences on a daily basis. The book is very well written and keeps your attention from beginning to end. It's well worth the read.

This book is an Epic help to us! We have two copies: one for me, and one for our daughter. If your child is showing symptoms of Schizophrenia, don’t try ignoring them and just hoping – you will regret it. You have to get them treatment, preferably before they’re 18. It started for us in 9th grade with our daughter wearing hoodies over her head, thinking people could hear her thoughts, and thinking she was on a reality TV show. It progressed to hallucinations, mostly auditory, but some visual. She’s been hospitalized three times. I cried oceans, believe me. The solution is The Medicine. Thank God, there are medicines now that they didn’t have back when Lori Schiller first got sick. The problem is that they don’t want to take the medicine. It’s a weird combination of things: They’re determined to not have Schizophrenia because of fear and/or embarrassment, they don’t believe they’re sick because it seems so real, so they believe it is all real, but we’re just not able to see it, or we’re all experiencing it too, but hiding it, or the voices are threatening things if they take the medicine, or – lastly - when the medicine starts working, they start missing the voices! Our daughter is 18 now and thankfully is okay. We think she experienced terrifying enough things this last time that she will not fight against the medicine, and understands that every time she relapses it gets worse. But we had Mental Health Power of Attorney to make her get treatment, despite being 18. I talk to her every day about Schizophrenia – you have to say the word and say it without fear or shame. Just calmness and okay-ness. We read certain pages from this book together. And we talk about God, and that it’s not about God saving her from hell and the demons, it’s about God saving her from Schizophrenia – and this is by taking the life-saving medicine (Olanzapine for us) and that the medicine is the Blessing from God.

Lori has written a powerful biography of her journey through years of schizophrenia. She share what is like to be controlled by voices and to lose reality. The right medicine and her hard work and strong motivation helped her to accept her diagnosis and make a life for herself. I am grateful for courage and honesty to share what her life was in the worst of her illness. One of the NAMI principles is “We never give up hope.” Lori shows that there really is hope for the person suffering from schizophrenia.

Gripping and raw, Lori gives us an intimate view into a world where reality and hallucinations collided. From a girl with everything going her way ... intelligence, poise, and success ... Lord's world, and the world of her family, shatter as the voices raging in her head and the feelings of despair and worthlessness pull her down into suicidal depression. But, from the ashes of a tormented sole, with inner strength, the support of her family and doctors, Lori fights back. With intensive counseling and an experimental drug (Clauzipan) Lori can tell us about her private he'll and the fight back to reality. A book to read to get a small taste of the darkness felt by people battling schizophrenia and manic depression.

Wow. What a deep dive into the mind of an incredible woman who descends into terrifying madness. Hang on and join her on the ride, seen through the lenses of not only her, but those closest to her. Family, friends, doctors- and for as dark and hopeless as it becomes, the ending has such a surprising ending for the reader, and the author it seems!! Bravo to Lori, her doctors, her incredible family, and the Voices who finally shut the f- up!

The only thing I have to says is brilliant. I loved reading this book thoroughly. It’s about Lori's journey with schizophrenia.

A sad but realistic presentation of the struggles associated with schizophrenia.

この本を読んで、患者について色々考えている 医者もいるのかと感動しました。 そして、幻聴の恐ろしさを改めて感じました。 新薬のおかげで、劇的に回復して良かったと思うのですが もし、回復しなかったらと思うとぞっとします。

Lori has done an amazing job with this memoir as someone who suffers with mental illness it is very easy to get caught up and only think of yourself and how things are effecting you. Lori's book prompted me to acknowledge and thank my family for not giving up on me and sticking it out - Thank you Lori. Apart from the above anyone would enjoy this book, it flows really well, shares the story from all aspects, Lori, her parents, siblings and medical staff do yourself a favour and read this!

This book is two things. First it is a gripping, exceedingly well-written, page-turning novel which is to be recommended on that merit to anyone who may not even be interested in schizophrenia. Secondly, and most importantly, it is an extraordinary true account of the strength and perseverance of the human spirit in the fight against a potentially isolating and debilitating condition. I like the way in which other people are allowed write chapters in the book to give their simultaneous view of what was happening, for example her mother, father, brother, roommate and psychiatrist. I would just like to add my opinion that I personally view it as a little misleading that clozapine is put forward as the main hope for rehabilitation. Clozapine does not work for everyone and people can do very well on other medications. People often respond in an individual way to medications. However, despite the harrowing ordeals, the book ends on such a positive, optimistic and determined note that I have read the last chapters many times to inspire me.