Learning about mental disorders has always been interesting to me. I am interested in learning why and how the brain can do certain things. That is why I chose the book The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks (2007). This book is an autobiography about Elyn’s life, mostly about her struggle through Schizophrenia as a college student. The story begins in chronological order starting with the way she grew up. Elyn had two younger brothers and lived with both of her parents. She seemed to be just as normal as any other child. As Elyn looked back on her childhood, she went on to explain some ways in which she was different than other children. At the age of eight, she began to obsess over certain things such as making sure all of her books were in order on her bookshelf before going to bed and making sure her shoes were all lined up. The obsession seemed strong enough to be …show more content…
Her mind would constantly tell her she was not deserving of anything, that she was a terrible person, and that she was worthless. In addition, she seemed to withdraw from relationships with others and tended to be anxious. These depressive symptoms often accompany schizophrenia and are due to chemical imbalances in dopamine and serotonin (Peitl et al., 2016). In a study about platelet serotonin levels, researchers have found that those diagnosed with schizophrenia have a lower concentration of platelet serotonin levels compared to control groups (2016). Elyn mentions in the book that she was taking Zyprexa, which is supposed to help balance dopamine and serotonin levels (NAMI, 2018). This medication seemed to work well for her if she took it regularly and at a high enough dosage, although she did experience withdrawal after she tried lowering the dose. This shows that Elyn most likely had an imbalance in those two mood stabilizing neurotransmitters if the medication was helping to balance their