My Mysterious Son: A Life-Changing Passage Between Schizophrenia and Shamanism
What a father will do to fight the mental illness that has destroyed his son.
What does a father do when hope is gone that his only son can ever lead anything close to a “normal” life? That’s the question that haunted Dick Russell in the fall of 2011, when his son, Franklin, was thirty-two. At the age of seventeen, Franklin had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. For years he spent time in and out of various hospitals, and even went through periods of adamantly denying that Dick was actually his father.

A mixed-race child, Franklin was handsome, intelligent, and sensitive until his mental illness suddenly took control. After spending the ensuing years trying to build some semblance of a normal father-son relationship, Dick was invited with his son, out of the blue, to witness the annual wildlife migration on Africa’s Serengeti Plain. Seizing this potential opportunity to repair the damage that both had struggled with, after going through two perilous nights together in Tanzania, ultimately the two-week trip changed both of their lives.

Desperately seeking an alternative to the medical model’s medication regimen, the author introduces Franklin to a West African shaman in Jamaica. Dick discovers Franklin’s psychic capabilities behind the seemingly delusional thought patterns, as well as his artistic talents. Theirs becomes an ancestral quest, the journey finally taking them to the sacred lands of New Mexico and an indigenous healer. For those who understand the pain of mental illness as well the bond between a parent and a child, My Mysterious Son shares the intimate and beautiful story of a father who will do everything in his power to repair his relationship with a young man damaged by mental illness.
1118762965
My Mysterious Son: A Life-Changing Passage Between Schizophrenia and Shamanism
What a father will do to fight the mental illness that has destroyed his son.
What does a father do when hope is gone that his only son can ever lead anything close to a “normal” life? That’s the question that haunted Dick Russell in the fall of 2011, when his son, Franklin, was thirty-two. At the age of seventeen, Franklin had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. For years he spent time in and out of various hospitals, and even went through periods of adamantly denying that Dick was actually his father.

A mixed-race child, Franklin was handsome, intelligent, and sensitive until his mental illness suddenly took control. After spending the ensuing years trying to build some semblance of a normal father-son relationship, Dick was invited with his son, out of the blue, to witness the annual wildlife migration on Africa’s Serengeti Plain. Seizing this potential opportunity to repair the damage that both had struggled with, after going through two perilous nights together in Tanzania, ultimately the two-week trip changed both of their lives.

Desperately seeking an alternative to the medical model’s medication regimen, the author introduces Franklin to a West African shaman in Jamaica. Dick discovers Franklin’s psychic capabilities behind the seemingly delusional thought patterns, as well as his artistic talents. Theirs becomes an ancestral quest, the journey finally taking them to the sacred lands of New Mexico and an indigenous healer. For those who understand the pain of mental illness as well the bond between a parent and a child, My Mysterious Son shares the intimate and beautiful story of a father who will do everything in his power to repair his relationship with a young man damaged by mental illness.
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My Mysterious Son: A Life-Changing Passage Between Schizophrenia and Shamanism

My Mysterious Son: A Life-Changing Passage Between Schizophrenia and Shamanism

by Dick Russell
My Mysterious Son: A Life-Changing Passage Between Schizophrenia and Shamanism

My Mysterious Son: A Life-Changing Passage Between Schizophrenia and Shamanism

by Dick Russell

Hardcover

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Overview

What a father will do to fight the mental illness that has destroyed his son.
What does a father do when hope is gone that his only son can ever lead anything close to a “normal” life? That’s the question that haunted Dick Russell in the fall of 2011, when his son, Franklin, was thirty-two. At the age of seventeen, Franklin had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. For years he spent time in and out of various hospitals, and even went through periods of adamantly denying that Dick was actually his father.

A mixed-race child, Franklin was handsome, intelligent, and sensitive until his mental illness suddenly took control. After spending the ensuing years trying to build some semblance of a normal father-son relationship, Dick was invited with his son, out of the blue, to witness the annual wildlife migration on Africa’s Serengeti Plain. Seizing this potential opportunity to repair the damage that both had struggled with, after going through two perilous nights together in Tanzania, ultimately the two-week trip changed both of their lives.

Desperately seeking an alternative to the medical model’s medication regimen, the author introduces Franklin to a West African shaman in Jamaica. Dick discovers Franklin’s psychic capabilities behind the seemingly delusional thought patterns, as well as his artistic talents. Theirs becomes an ancestral quest, the journey finally taking them to the sacred lands of New Mexico and an indigenous healer. For those who understand the pain of mental illness as well the bond between a parent and a child, My Mysterious Son shares the intimate and beautiful story of a father who will do everything in his power to repair his relationship with a young man damaged by mental illness.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781629144870
Publisher: Skyhorse
Publication date: 11/18/2014
Pages: 432
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Dick Russell has written for such varied publications as Time, Sports Illustrated, and the Village Voice.His books include The Man Who Knew Too Much, Black Genius, and On the Trail of the JFK Assassins. He is also the coauthor of several New York Times bestsellers, including American Conspiracies, 63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read, and They Killed Our President.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Tell-Tate Heart xi

Part 1 The Desperate Years 1

Chapter 1 Two Faces 3

Chapter 2 Breakdown 20

Chapter 3 Beam Me Up, Scottie 34

Chapter 4 Between Scylla and Charybdis 51

Chapter 5 Battling the System 69

Chapter 6 An Oasis Called Earth House 87

Chapter 7 Back to Boston 102

Part 2 Africa 117

Chapter 8 Foreshadowings 119

Chapter 9 What the Doctor Ordered 131

Chapter 10 Africa Beckoning 143

Chapter 11 Lost 153

Chapter 12 Among the Maasai 165

Chapter 13 Into the Serengeti 178

Chapter 14 Breakthrough 189

Chapter 15 In Search of the Leopard Tortoise 207

Chapter 16 Touched with Fire 215

Part 3 Call of the Shaman 231

Chapter 17 Double-Edged Homecoming 233

Chapter 18 A Quest for Alternatives 244

Chapter 19 A Man Named Malidoma 258

Chapter 20 Holding the Space 272

Chapter 21 In Jamaica 280

Chapter 22 Spanning the Gateway 304

Chapter 23 Coming to Ground in New Mexico 311

Chapter 24 Invoking the Ancestors 334

Chapter 25 Descent of the Panther, Flight of the Pigeon 348

Chapter 26 Light within the Tunnel 361

Epilogue: Beyond Diagnosis: Schizophrenia and Shamanism 374

Acknowledgments 390

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