As for the Sky Falling: A Critical Look at Psychiatry and Suffering

Jere D. Turner is Adult Collections Co-ordinator, Regina Public Library.

Supeene’s strong indictment of the psychiatric profession is the
result of the six months she spent under psychiatric care in 1979 and
1980. In the introduction Supeene states, “The book is now composed of
two alternating strands: my story and an analysis of psychiatry and
society’s attitudes to non-conformity and suffering.” But what is
just as important is the unstated but equally strong theme of feminism,
and what appears to be a genuine aversion for many other subjects,
including capitalism, business, government, and the church.

These sustained attacks on so many diverse subjects detract from the
book’s stated purpose, to take a critical look at psychiatry.

The book opens with a highly personal and emotional narrative of
Supeene’s first experiences with schizophrenia. There follows a more
critical and analytical exposition of psychiatry. Here the author
recounts her own experiences and that of others who have suffered not
only from schizophrenia but from the various treatments they received at
numerous institutions in Canada and the United States. Throughout the
book Supeene continues to intersperse her own experiences with comments
on psychiatry and on North American social systems. Included are
quotations from psychiatrists that cast much doubt on the methods used
in the treatment of those suffering from schizophrenia.

While this book is flawed by the lack of focus and the highly personal
commentary that detracts from the book as a whole, there can be no doubt
that there are grave problems in the field of psychiatry, and that
Supeene has suffered a great deal of mental anguish while receiving
psychiatric help. The many references to other sources are a plus factor
that will aid the reader who wishes to pursue this important and serious
problem, which exists worldwide.