Understandings of and attitudes toward schizophrenia were very different in the 1960s and 1970s. How did they impact the way Don and Mimi's responded to their sons' illnesses?

Students should be able to discuss how the schizophrenogenic mother theory and the emphasis on bad parenting as a cause of schizophrenia discouraged Don and Mimi from taking their sons to see doctors. They should also discuss how the generally more pervasive stigmas about mental illness and the lack of patient advocacy organizations led Mimi in particular to hide, repress, and deny the reality of what was really happening.

After reading this book, what have you learned about schizophrenia? Has it changed your understanding of this illness? Why or why not?

Students should be able to articulate two or three facts about schizophrenia that they have learned from reading this book. This could be about the nature of the...