4 out of 4 stars
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“Just ignore him. He’s crazy.” How often those words have been carelessly uttered by people when referring to individuals suffering from mental illnesses. It is imperative to understand that mental illness, like physical illness, is not something to be ashamed of, and should definitely not be ignored. Just in Time is a thought-provoking story centered on schizophrenia and its effects both on the sufferer and on their support system.
Steve is a calm, extremely well-behaved man with severe schizophrenia. Putting “well-behaved” and “severe schizophrenia” in the same sentence sounds like a tall order, but the efforts of Steve’s strong support system has made this possible. In fact, many people in his neighborhood have no idea that this onetime star athlete suffers from the debilitating illness. His parents Matt and Vivian, his siblings Scott and Sylvia, as well as his psychologist Dr. Rita between themselves manage to help him achieve an admirable level of normalcy in his life. But not all good things last forever. Steve soon loses both his parents and Dr. Rita to the cold hands of death. How does he weather this storm without his condition getting worse?
One outstanding lesson from this book is in the social treatment of schizophrenics. A disturbing number of people have an unhealthy fear of mentally ill individuals. As a result of this, mentally ill persons have to contend with unnecessary social stigma. Fear of stigmatization thus prevents many from seeking needed treatment early. The importance of showing kindness and acceptance to people suffering from mental illnesses is highlighted in this story. In fact, their success at managing and recovering from these conditions is greatly influenced by how people treat them.
Author Joan L. Jackson has written this book in a style that’s engaging, easy to read and easy to understand. She leaves the big, ambiguous words in the dictionary. The pacing is steady, devoid of any disconcerting time gaps. She also keeps the mood generally happy and optimistic, sweeping out the gloom that’s usually associated with mental illness. I found myself very reluctant to put this book down, and whenever anything happened to rock Steve’s world I would find myself silently praying for his safety. This book also makes that short list of books that end on a perfect note.
Just in Time is written with excellent grammar, and I found extremely few errors. I am unable to put my finger on a single thing I dislike about this book. I am happy to rate it 4 out of 4 stars, and I recommend it to everyone who has either directly or indirectly had to deal with mental illness. I think you will find it just as interesting as I did.
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Just in Time
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