PILLS, POETRY & PROSE: Life with Schizophrenia

A mixed genre book, Pills Poetry & Prose travels the turbulent path of an everyday woman struggling with the frightening diagnosis of schizophrenia. This book will offer insight and understanding to those who are curious about schizophrenia and will encourage those who are struggling to find hope. The author takes us on a tour of her life as a child before her diagnosis, the heartbreaking experience of a severely broken marriage, to the degrading stereotypes and stigmas she was made to endure. One poem even addresses the Nazi's horrifying treatment of people with schizophrenia prior to World War II. The pieces move from tragedy to triumph as the author learns how to accept her diagnosis, and then to live with a highly misunderstood brain disease. In the end it is about transformation, about the brave and courageous steps it takes the author to come out of the closet after twenty years of hiding, and to openly admit to having a mental illness. She finds this courage in order to champion those that are too scared to speak their truth and to thrive in her own right.  

Rebecca Chamaa graduated from The Evergreen State College. She attends two writer's groups, one for poetry, and one for memoir. She has had her work published in England, Canada, and the United States. She blogs at ajourneywithyou.com