Today we talk about Surviving Schizophrenia, a book by Stephen C. Southon published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Stephen C. Southon to get to know him better, where he found the inspiration to write his book Surviving Schizophrenia, as well as what sensation he felt by reading his life on the pages of his book.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where and when did you find the inspiration to write your book?
I first penned part of the novel, Surviving Schizophrenia, in 1989 when I was completing my first university degree, a Bachelor’s degree in Management Studies from the University of Waikato. At that time, I had suffered several nervous breakdowns; however, I eventually completed my bachelor’s degree. I am currently enrolled at St Johns Theological College for a Diploma in Theological Studies. Writing the novel Surviving Schizophrenia proved to be cathartic as I put the pain encountered as a client of mental health services into words. And the complexity of the illness, schizophrenia, became plain as I progressed in narrating the story. I was inspired by relationships with doctors, nurses, social workers, hospice managers and other health care providers. I was also inspired by relationships with patients, clients, or as they preferred, they be called “service-users”, as associated with self-help organizations nascent in the early 1990s in New Zealand. As my illness progressed, I faced the possibility of disenfranchisement. However, my education, work and life experience and writing efforts identify me as a sociologist in my own right.
- What is the message you want to convey to your readers?
First, what is schizophrenia? It is a complex malady: auditory hallucinations; visual hallucinations; delusions of grandeur akin to manic illness; delusions of persecution; phobia, delusions of magical influence and more. It is an extreme disorder; however, contrary to popular belief, it does not necessarily imply a tendency towards violence or anti-social behaviour (contrary to reports portrayed in the general media). Secondly, how is schizophrenia treated? Its treatment is evolving rapidly as medics improve systems of the past. Traditional medicine provides a plethora of new drugs, However, in the 2020s, a panoply of peripheral services serves as part of treatment: holistic and alternative health care healers; indigenous perspectives such as Maori and Pacifika cultures; occupational therapy, new community self-help groups, ecumenical chaplaincy. Third, what is the prognosis for schizophrenia? The outcome for many sufferers of chronic schizophrenia is a lifelong spiral downwards. Alcoholism. Prostitution. Petty crime. Schizophrenia may impel the disenfranchisement of its victims. Four, Jesus Christ? Can the clergy provide deliverance of the schizophrenic soul? Is Christianity part of “the ghost in the machine” providing liberation from the terrifying symptoms of schizophrenia? “Call a doctor! Call a priest!”
- What significant life experiences find expression in your book?
My protagonist Barbara Mason is a promising student of law; however, her efforts to complete her studies are hindered by her mental illness. She enters mental health facilities numerous times; and, this misfortune puts her successful studies at risk. The symptoms of schizophrenia are terrifying for Barbara. She senses a serpent in the belly and a dog breathing at her neck. She is fraught with voices – thought insertions and thought broadcasting. Barbara drops out of university for a time, during which she “brushes against the wrong side of the street”. She moves from one residence to another to another. City lights beguile Barbara as she takes to city dance floors. She takes a daily and nightly sojourn juggling prescription drugs: from visiting the schizophrenia-friendly coffee stops; to cruising the New Zealand Countrymen’s Club sex club; to hitting the dance floors. Barbara eventually graduates from university. However, she is not in any position to take professional work. By good fortune, Barbara secures a state-sponsored residential unit. She joins a local church; and, becomes ensconced in a Christian community. Her professional career as a social worker and pastor takes flight.
- What sensations did you feel by ‘reading’ your life on the pages of your book?
Writing Surviving Schizophrenia, I re-lived suffering and redemption. I suffered my first breakdown at age nineteen as a sophomore student. I recovered with medicaments. The hallucinations attendant to my first breakdown were terrifying; and, I suffered recurrent breakdowns over the years and decades, always with attendant scary imaginings. Arriving in hospital after each schizophrenic debacle, I would each time be subjected to treatment in seclusion, solitary confinement. And I did not always react well to medications; at times, I was frightened by hospital staff. However, I would always return to recovery. Nevertheless, aspects of the novel Surviving Schizophrenia are in fact light-hearted. For example, the protagonist Barbara Mason experiences varied sexual acquaintanceships. I giggle when re-reading these passages. I am proud of Barbara’s efforts to overcome her malady. She is talented and persevering. Whenever she faces a downturn, she is blessed with an upturn. The book reaches its dénouement as Barbara Mason becomes ensconced in a Christian community and takes on roles in employment for the church. She has become celibate and eludes the dance floors and bars that have distracted her in the past. I laugh when I read these final passages: I don’t expect celibacy from all my readers!
- Are you working on a new writing project, you can tell us about?
I have prepared a collection of 25 very short poems which I believe merit illustration.The poems are compact; less than half a page each. They are generally macabre in nature with a punchy endline. I envisage that the poetry collection, entitled Stretched on a Catherine Wheel, might sit well on a shelf beside my novel Surviving Schizophrenia. Many of these poems relate to my specialty subject, identified in the penning of the first novel, Surviving Schizophrenia, as “mental illness”. In the late 1980s when these poems were penned, pop culture was dominated by Gothic, New Wave and Punk influences. I believe my poetry may fit in these cultures. My first university degree was a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Studies with emphases in Personnel and Human Resources Management; Organizational Behaviour; Marketing and an unofficial Minor in International Marketing and French. Hence, these studies through the University of Waikato lend me a background suitable for sociological comment. I am currently completing work for a Diploma in Theological Studies through St Johns Anglican Theological College. I am a member of l’Alliance Française d’Auckland. My study, work, voluntary associations and life experience support my qualification to make sociological comment.
Europe Books thanks the author Stephen C. Southon once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book Surviving Schizophrenia. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, may this book allow you to better understand what Schizophrenia is about, how it is treated, how it is lived by the person who suffers from it and the people who surround him/her. I hope this book makes you reflect on this topic and give you new perspectives on the matter.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor!