28 Quotes by Elyn R. Saks

There are forces of nature and circumstance that are beyond our control, let alone our understanding, and to insist on victory in the face of this, to accept nothing less, is just asking for a soul-pummeling. The simple truth is, not every fight can be won.

How many times, I wondered, would I have to deal with the betrayal of this mass of nerves and blood vessels and muscle and skin?

Different bodies respond differently to different medication; finding the magic potion is pretty much hit-and-miss. This seems obvious, even simplistic, but it’s the only consistently true fact in treating mental illness.

But explaining what I’ve come to call “disorganization” is a different challenge altogether. Consciousness gradually loses its coherence. One’s center gives way. The center cannot hold. The “me” becomes a haze, and the solid center from which one experiences reality breaks up like a bad radio signal.

Mental illness” is among the most stigmatized of categories.′ People are ashamed of being mentally ill. They fear disclosing their condition to their friends and confidants-and certainly to their employers.

There’s a tremendous need to implode the myths of mental illness, to put a face on it, to show people that a diagnosis does not have to lead to a painful and oblique life... We who struggle with these disorders can lead full, happy, productive lives, if we have the right resources.

All my life, books had been the life raft, the safe haven, the place I ran to when nothing else worked.

The human brain comprises about 2 percent of a person’s body weight, but it consumes upward of 20 pcent of that body’s oxygen intake, and it controls 100 percent of that body’s actions.

Don’t focus on it,” she said. “Don’t define yourself in terms of something which even many highly trained and gifted professionals do not fully understand.