Memoirs Of My Nervous Illness

Novelist Antonia White wrote of her time in Bethlem asylum in the 1920s that 'It was as if she was both in the belly of the beast and also detached, observing the process of her madness...' But for a chilling, blow-by-blow account of what it is really like to be mentally ill and to be able to record it in minute detail, nothing has yet surpassed Shreber's Memoirs, first published in 1903. Shreber was born in 1842, became a judge, had his first nervous breakdown at 42 and subsequently returned to hospital at 51 for another nine years. His delusionary world called upon him to bring back to mankind the lost state of blessedness. In pursuit of this mission, he reveals an increadible structure of Gods, nerve language, 'rays', souls and soul murder. He is compelled to think incessantly, which results in his endlessly repeating the same phrases, bellowing loudly and grimacing. At the same time, he is able to write insightful and logical letters to his wife, suggesting a capability to retain slivers of sanity within madness. When does belief cross over into religious mania and madness? Schreber wanted to publish his memoirs both as a plea for his release and to raise doubts about whether his delusional system had a basis in truth. Had he really been granted a glance behind the veil of rationality? One of the most fascinating exercises is for the reader to try to relate the phantasmagorical experiences Schreber describes, to the more prosaic medical experts' reports covering exactly the same circumstances in the Addenda. (Kirkus UK)