Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509220131
SECTION: BOOK PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY MILDRED WILLIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One reviewer has described ``The Quiet Room'' as a ``disquieting vision of madness,'' but it is also a vision of hope, healing, courage and the rearrangement of a life after tragedy strikes.
The ``quiet room'' of the title refers to the isolation chamber in psychiatric hospitals where out-of-control patients are confined until they have calmed down. Some patients even choose to go to the quiet room to escape the environment of the hospital.
The book chronicles Lori Schiller's descent into the nightmarish world of schizophrenia and her valiant struggle to rejoin the real world. Her story follows the typical progress of severe psychiatric illness: the relapses, suicide attempts, repeated hospitalizations, experimental medications, drug abuse, homelessness, controversial electro-convulsive treatments (ECT), feelings of loss as friends move forward in life, hopelessness.
Lori Schiller was 17 years old when she first heard the strange and taunting voices that would continue to torment her for 13 years. She told no one of her ``terrible secret,'' not her family nor her friends, for fear that they would think she was ``crazy,'' and she would be shunned. Her journey to hell and back had begun.
The Schiller family learns what numerous other families know firsthand about schizophrenia: that it disrupts what should be one of the most productive and enjoyable times of life; that it diminishes victims and leaves no family member untouched. Each chapter of ``The Quiet Room'' is an expression of one person's unique impression and experience of his or her view.
In Lori's father Marvin Schiller's chapter, the family is called to the hospital after an early suicide attempt. Nancy Schiller's chapter focuses on the shame, denial, loss and feelings of guilt that she hadn't paid enough attention to Lori. Lori's brother Steven was 16 when she was first hospitalized by her parents. He recalls the confusion, anger and resentment he felt. He was sure they had ``put her away'' because they were ashamed of her, and it was easier for them if she were in the hospital. He felt abandoned and isolated because they were not around as much, while they were actually visiting his sister in the hospital.
For Steven, they were not a family anymore. His parents were silent and tense; his mother was sad and often cried, and he felt it was his fault. He began to be afraid that what had happened to Lori would happen to him since they had the same genes.
Schizophrenia is not a ``split personality,'' but rather the inability to distinguish what is real from what is not real. Symptoms include delusions, auditory hallucinations, paranoia and the inability to perform previously effortless social behaviors.
Today Lori is stabilized and on the road to recovery. She feels she has a mission to bring her message of survival, hope and courage to anyone touched by mental illness. She is an active speaker, sharing her personal experiences with schizophrenia.
Her primary objective is to increase national awareness of the plight of the mentally ill, and to help alienate/reduce the stigma of mental illness and to show by personal example that there is hope for those so afflicted. ``The Quiet Room'' is a powerful contribution to her effort.
Mildred Willis is president of the Roanoke Valley Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
\ Meet Schiller in Salem
Lori Schiller will discuss her illness and her book on Oct. 30, at the Salem Civic Center; 7:30 pm; Community Room. Admission is free but seating is limited. Call 977-3470 for information and reservations.
by CNB