Family Narratives and Systemic Insights - 2 x 45-minute sessions- Remembering Rachel a sisters perspective - Deborah Kasdan
- Straight From The Cuckoo's Nest: A Patient's & A Caregiver's Perspective - Perri Bach, BS, Ethan Back, AS
Remembering Rachel a sisters perspective - Deborah Kasdan
A personal account of the impact of the impact of failed psychiatric treatment on my sister Rachel, myself and our entire family of six, as recounted in my book, "Roll Back the World: a sister's memoir."
Rachel was healthy and vibrant during her gap year working on a kibbutz in Israel but when she returned to the U.S. her behavior was erratic and disorganized. She was unable to care for herself and our parents were unable to care for her. In 1965 at 23 years of age, Rachel was institutionalized with a diagnosis of schizophrenia; I was just starting college and was unable to process what was happening to her. My brother started college the next year. We had no family meetings or therapy to help and support us. Our parents wanted to keep Rachel safe, but we wanted her to be free. Our parents filed a Federal law suit to keep her in the hospital because she was assaulted and raped in boarding houses where she was discharged. Her siblings' attempt to free her from the hospital backfired and Rachel ended up on her own two thousand miles from home. She lived on the streets and in three state hospitals for years until a social worker was stunned by the quality of her poetry and got her into an outpatient program. Eventually, the staff found an ideal home for her and she found acceptance and respect in a synagogue. I explore my own feelings of shame and guilt, my inability to help her as I wished to, or share these feelings --until finally, in publishing the memoir about us, I brought them to light. This personal history suggests the need to include adult siblings in decision-making and help families deal with the host of conflicts that arise around hospitalization and treatment of a loved one.
Straight From The Cuckoo's Nest: A Patient's & A Caregiver's Perspective - Perri Bach, BS, Ethan Back, ASEthan has endured five psychotic breaks from 2012 to 2020, each profoundly shaped by The Truman Show Delusion. In his talk, he will delve into the factors that contributed to these episodes and this unique delusion. Drawing from a clip of
The Truman Show, he’ll connect its themes to his lived experiences.
Ethan will also share a personal excerpt from the forward of his memoir, followed by a gripping passage that captures the intensity of a psychotic episode.
He’ll close on a hopeful note before introducing his mother, who was his caregiver during these difficult years. She will share her journey of caregiving through his struggles and reflect on the broader state of mental illness care in the U.S.
