Summary Of Crazy By Pete Earley

Summary and Evaluation Pete Earley, a seasoned investigative reporter for the Washington Post, wrote about criminal justice system for a living. However, it wasn’t until his son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and experienced a manic episode, that he began investigating Americas mental health system. Earley’s book, Crazy, walks us through his investigation of the mental health system and his own personal story of living and overcoming the mental illness his son lives with. Earley talks about how Mike, his son, had his first psychotic break when he was a senior in college. On a particularly bad night, Mike’s older brother called Earley saying that Mike was getting bad again, and that Earley should come see him. When Earley arrived in

I loved how we were able to see the evolution of Mike’s mental illness, and see how the charges that were pressed against him affected him in many aspects of his life, such as getting a job. I loved that we were able to see him “recover” and decide that he was going back to school as well as that he knew he had to be taking his medication. I wish we could have seen more of the stories of the patients that Earley talked to. While we got a large overview of their lives and how they ended up where they were, I wish we could have seen more of what happened after they were released, or moved other places. There were also many things that surprised me; I didn’t realize how many people in America were affected by mental illnesses and how a majority of them were homeless. I also didn’t realize how many times that they were brought back and forth from jail to the streets. There was one lady that was talked about in the book, who has been awaiting trial for 3 years because she is still not competent enough to stand

There are many ways that Mike is similar to someone who doesn’t have a disability. Like thousands of students a year, Mike went to college and earned his degree, and is going on to earn his masters degree. While Mike had to take a break in-between his bachelors and going to get his masters, he went back, just like thousands of Americans do. He was also planning for his future ahead of time. In American culture we are very future time oriented, we like to know what we are doing weeks, months, and sometimes up to a year in advance. Likewise, now that Mike is on his medication and thinking clearly, he is beginning to plan for the future. He is also having a similar outlook on life similar to those who don’t have a disability. There are also several ways that a person like Mike, who suffers from bipolar disorder, is different from someone who doesn’t have a disability. With bipolar disorder you suffer from severe mood swings, which is something that a person without a disability don’t have to suffer through. While everyone has different moods that they feel, they are in no way similar to how a person who suffers from bipolar disorder has them and how they affect their decisions and mental state. A person who has bipolar disorder will often live in fear, which is also something that people without disabilities don’t suffer from. If you are suffering from bipolar