Problem
Eleanor Longden: The voices in my head
To all appearances, Eleanor Longden was just like every other student, heading to college full of promise and without a care in the world. That was until the voices in her head started talking. Initially innocuous, these internal narrators became increasingly antagonistic and dictatorial, turning her life into a living nightmare. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, hospitalized, drugged, Longden was discarded by a system that didn't know how to help her. Longden tells the moving tale of her years-long journey back to mental health, and makes the case that it was through learning to listen to her voices that she was able to survive.
Elyn Saks: A tale of mental illness- from the inside
"Is it okay if I totally trash your office?" It's a question Elyn Saks once asked her doctor, and it wasn't a joke. A legal scholar, in 2007 Saks came forward with her own story of schizophrenia, controlled by drugs and therapy but ever present. In this powerful talk, she asks us to see people with mental illness clearly, honestly and compassionately.
1) How Saks and Longden's experiences similar?
2) How are they different?
3) What resources did these women have available that contribute to their success?
4) How do their resources differ from typical resources of poor people of Color?
5) What is the relative impact of societal disablement on these women vs. poor, less resourced people?
6) How might the 25+ year age difference affect their experiences?