Dr. Ann Olson, a doctor of Psychology, has written a book consisting of biography, art and analysis of the various types of schizophrenia. The author is also a poet, essayist, artist and sufferer who has endured years of misdiagnosed psychiatric disorders to finally arrive at her present diagnosis of Undifferentiated Schizophrenia. The book is a compilation of her personal experiences with the disorder, her life with her schizophrenic ex-husband, her own mental illness, her mental health counseling work and commentary of her renown neuropsychologist father. Through Olson's writing and first-hand experience with the illness, the reader is given deep insight into this illness from both the inside experience and the outside theories regarding it. There are discussions of the diagnosis and history of schizophrenia and the many subtypes. There are also analyses of patients suffering with it and with whom Dr. Olson has worked. Olson's poetry is a perspective into the thoughts and feelings of schizophrenics. A significant theme in this book is the stigma of mental illness and how to deal and overcome the negativity associated with those laboring under this illness. Dr. Olson provides insights from the perspective of not just a schizophrenic but of a university academic and lecturer in Psychology. This should be a help to the individual and the families that suffer through the effects of this devastating illness and for those who treat schizophrenic in professional settings. This book contains research, poetry, self-help suggestions, a glossary of psychology terms and extensive bibliography.
About the Author: Ann Olson is a doctor of psychology, an erstwhile visual artist and a frequent writer of creative, poetic and academic material. She received her BA from the University of Washington, her MA from Pepperdine University, and her doctoral degree from Alliant International University. She lives in a quirky, small apartment near the Tower District in Fresno, California. This area of Fresno is culturally diverse and gathers to itself creative individuals, including musicians, artists and writers. She taught introductory psychology at the State Center Community College District for several years. She has also worked in the mental health field to a great extent over the years of her adulthood, including jobs at a variety of hospitals, group homes and centers, dedicated to the service of the mentally ill and developmentally challenged populations. Her work has included positions as a qualified mental health professional, a counselor and a therapist, a psychology intern, a doctor of psychology and a post-doctoral fellow in several work-related capacities. Ann has exhibited her visual artwork in certain venues in the area of Fresno's Tower District. Her writings, including poetry, essays and short stories, have been published in several zines including The Barbaric Yawp, based in New York, and Seattle's Chrysanthemum. Perhaps, most notably, her work has been published on Valley Public Radio's program, Valley Writers Read. You can read some of her academic work on the website, Brain Blogger. She also blogs for Psychology Today.