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

Unforgettable story of schizophrenia. Seeing inside the mind of someone who suffers from schizophrenia is an amazing journey. Kudos to the scientists who found the drug to heal it, the psychiatrists who treat patients and the therapists who also offer hope and compassion to sufferers. A great read. I am so happy Lori recovered and can live a normal life.

Very interesting and inspiring story. I appreciated that it was written through different people’s perspectives. I often wonder how things impact family members so it was cool to be able to read their experiences.

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.

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.

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.

Oh my God this book is amazing. It’s a story that reads like a textbook so much useful information can be cleaned from his story.

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.

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!

I'm a mental health nursing student and I've just finished reading this book. It is harrowing and devastating but also phenomenal and inspiring. The human mind is incredible, and as Lori tells her story we get to know exactly how amazingly strong and brilliant hers is. I recommend this book to EVERYONE, not just people interested in mental health as the book deals with all elements of human resilience; strength and determination. Thank you Lori for such an honest and compelling book, I feel like I will be a better nurse having read it and will thoroughly be recommending it to everyone I know!