Daily Chapters: Incestuous Failure
The majority of cases were schizophrenia, with the occasional manic depressives.
Then in my West London Psychiatric Unit...................
This much I knew. My guru had spent a lot of time working on a psychoanalytical understanding of schizophrenics - an approach frowned upon by the mainstream psychiatrists of that era. He got his MD from Edinburgh on a thesis about the relationship between mothers and schizophrenic sons in particular. It was close to Margaret Mahler’s view, theorizing that unresolved infancy stages led to late adolescent breakdown.
The best assessment I could give him about his view
on this was: “Interesting!”
I found many things to admire in my new found guru,
but there were limits. Schizophrenia is
schizophrenia. Psychoanalysis for
schizophrenia? I could not be
convinced. No matter, I still held him
in high esteem, and we remained good friends even after I moved on to my next
post at a premier psychoanalytic centre.
Perhaps it was his influence.
Ray had just one book with him: a dog-eared copy of
James Joyce’s Ulysses.
I remember once over lunch, out of the blue my guru told me about the question posed by James Joyce: “When he and his daughter spoke the same language and said similar things, why did he become famous and yet his daughter was diagnosed schizophrenia?”
Just published on Amazon
The Cockroach Catcher II: Attempted Living.
Attempted Suicide
or
Attempted Living!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 17, 2023
Reading his memoir is eye opening, and at times therapeutic. It was like meeting up with a learned old friend, as you sit with him and listen while his memories and ideas overflow. You travel with him as his stories move from continent to continent, from detailed episodes to gentle remarks, from freshly harvested catches to gourmet preparations, from ancient finds to modern scientific research ......
A most delightful read.
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