A Head Full of Ghosts
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Community Reviews
This book was an alright read for me. I think my main issue was just that I was so frustrated that Marjorie was having her first psychotic break and (most of) her family was like "RELIGION WILL SOLVE IT!" As someone who works in mental health, let me tell you—religion does not solve it. I definitely did not feel like the book was able to convince me that a devil or demon or whatever was inside Marjorie.
I think one of the things I noted was that she was talking to herself even when no one was around, and that she was wearing headphones a lot. Marjorie said that she was faking some of it for the cameras, and perhaps she was for the more dramatic stuff, but she wouldn't be doing it on her own. Also, I have a lot of patients who wear headphones constantly and listen to music because it's the best way to drown out auditory hallucinations, so that was a great detail and a clue that she was struggling with those symptoms.
I liked the unreliable narrator aspect of the book, though again, I saw the theories that Merry was the one possessed, and I didn't really think that either. To be fair, I'm pretty anti-religion and skeptical, so maybe that colored my view of the whole thing. I didn't necessarily find this book to be ~horror so much as just a sad view of what happens when mental illness is misunderstood. I mean, I don't think things this extreme often happen, but often when mental illness is ignored or denied, then bad things end up happening to the family and the individual regardless. (Can anyone tell I'm pretty passionate about SMI and treatment options???)
I did like the dad's sort of descent into religious mania. There seemed to be a flavor of bipolar in him, which would make sense since bipolar and psychosis are related and it's genetic. Also again, the effects of one person's mental illness affecting the whole family and how it's so easy to get caught up in "magical" solutions. I was really frustrated by him but also really liked the downfall of the "breadwinner/main male protector" and portrayal of him as sort of a minor villain almost.
...I feel like I read this book as a treatise on schizophrenia and that's probably not the way to read it, but here we are. I can't help it lol.
I think one of the things I noted was that she was talking to herself even when no one was around, and that she was wearing headphones a lot. Marjorie said that she was faking some of it for the cameras, and perhaps she was for the more dramatic stuff, but she wouldn't be doing it on her own. Also, I have a lot of patients who wear headphones constantly and listen to music because it's the best way to drown out auditory hallucinations, so that was a great detail and a clue that she was struggling with those symptoms.
I liked the unreliable narrator aspect of the book, though again, I saw the theories that Merry was the one possessed, and I didn't really think that either. To be fair, I'm pretty anti-religion and skeptical, so maybe that colored my view of the whole thing. I didn't necessarily find this book to be ~horror so much as just a sad view of what happens when mental illness is misunderstood. I mean, I don't think things this extreme often happen, but often when mental illness is ignored or denied, then bad things end up happening to the family and the individual regardless. (Can anyone tell I'm pretty passionate about SMI and treatment options???)
I did like the dad's sort of descent into religious mania. There seemed to be a flavor of bipolar in him, which would make sense since bipolar and psychosis are related and it's genetic. Also again, the effects of one person's mental illness affecting the whole family and how it's so easy to get caught up in "magical" solutions. I was really frustrated by him but also really liked the downfall of the "breadwinner/main male protector" and portrayal of him as sort of a minor villain almost.
...I feel like I read this book as a treatise on schizophrenia and that's probably not the way to read it, but here we are. I can't help it lol.
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