This is the complete Community Press article.
Vestal Writer Releases First Book
Community Press Apalachin, NY (December 12, 2012)
Dave Elder, a Vestal writer and a graduate from the class of 1969, recently released his first book, called Expecting the Broken Brain to Do Mental Pushups -- a Personal Journey to Understanding Schizophrenia and Depression.
The cover of the book features a picture of Dave's mother Geraldine, who was also a Vestal graduate, but from the class of 1942. She taught him a lot about schizophrenia, without meaning to do so, and he accompanied her on more than one trip to the New York State Hospital in Binghamton while growing up in Ross Corners.
Why a book about schizophrenia and depression? Dave feels that taking the reader along on his journey to get to a basic understanding of these mental issues could possibly help others reach their own point of understanding sooner than they might otherwise, and that someone who, like him, finds themselves in the role of caregiver for a family member or friend with these issues, truly needs to get to that point of understanding as soon as possible. The caregiver's perspective also sets Dave's story apart from the majority of books on the subject, as most of the previous writing related to this topic has come from either the sufferers, such as Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, or from the professional who treat them, such as Dr. Nancy C. Andreasen's The Broken Brain.
Ideally, Dave would like his book to play a role in demystifying these issues for the general public because he believes our society as a whole will benefit from a better overall understanding of psychiatric problems and the people who suffer from them.
You can find a copy at Books I Should Have Read in Endicott and River Read in Binghamton, and the book is also available from Amazon.com in print form and as a kindle download. To find out more, check out the website MentalPushups.com.
