A tale of survival when it is least wanted, Practical Blasphemy is a profane account of the madness and psychiatric treatment that almost kills a gifted young woman. Delve into the brutal, kaleidoscopic world that haunts and taunts an undiagnosed, suicidal musician as she follows the rabbit hole to sanity.
Amelia Adams, a pianist besieged by intrusive thoughts, carefully plans and carries out her suicide. Bleeding in the bathtub of her Chicago apartment, she calls 911 so her roommates do not have to find her body. To her horror, EMTs get there sooner than she bargains for, “save” her life, and deposit her in a psychiatric ward.
Amid the relentless onslaught of unwelcome thoughts, visions, and sound— including music, monsters, robots, ghostly children who urge her to hurt herself, and a vicious blind rabbit dipped in tar— Amelia must confront her waking nightmare in a place without escape. This book is based on real experiences, both sane and psychotic. It has been marginally fictionalized to protect the author’s identity.
Practical Blasphemy is unconventional and shocking, but it is a crucial instrument in helping the academic psychiatric community and general public understand the reality people with severe psychiatric disorders experience. This memoir sheds much-needed light on what it means to live with mental illness and, possibly, provides a glimmer of hope to those who struggle daily.
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