Is There No Place on Earth for Me

The first part of the book details Frumkin's initial grappling with the early stages of her mental illness, and the point of view of the woman's immediate family in regards to the illness, before it was diagnosed and also after Sylvia began to receive institutionalized treatment. Frumkin's family situation as well as her character is detailed, without giving easy explanations as to how any specific family dynamic was the overriding cause of her illness. In the above-cited quote, the reader observes the insensitivity of the sufferer's uncle, who believed that Sylvia's own lack of a moral will, combined with the stupidity of her family whom refused to force the girl to take responsibility for her actions, was the root cause of the schizophrenia, rather than because of any genetic disposition to suffer from the illness, or because of a chemical imbalance.

The second part of the book details Frumkin's experiences with institutionalization in greater detail. Sheehan does not stint with her critique of the mental health care profession, which she describes in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest terms. Most specifically, Sheehan focuses on Creedmoor's overuse of electroshock techniques and hydrotherapy, both of which have since been shown to be largely ineffective in dealing with schizophrenia, the inadequacy of the facilities counseling, and the experimental 'let's see' approach to medication, which often resulted in patients being used as guinea pigs for medications with debilitating side effects. Even the food was standardized, according to computer. In the "computerized food plan," for instance, "pot roast was on the menu fifty-two times a year, not fifty-one or fifty-three times." (Sheehan 43)

The book, however, is not absent of hope. The fact that Sylvia was given voice to tell her story is hopeful in and of itself, and the book concludes, with not a rosy point of view about the mental health profession, then about the ability of individuals to recover and to reach some sort of tentative understanding of the world. To answer the question proposed deliberately by the title, yes indeed there is a place in the world for the Sylvia Frumkins of the world

Ironically, however, the pseudonym used for the protagonist underlines the fact that mental illness as severe as schizophrenia remains stigmatized in our society, particularly when the book was written during the 1980's. Prevailingly, the fear experienced by Sylvia's uncle that he would go mad himself if she remained with him, remains present in society--today as well as twenty years ago. The uncle's punitive view towards the girl and her illness also shows how people still see mental illness as something communicative that they can 'catch' and thus fear those who suffer from it, as he said her presence, he feared, would make him go mad himself. The book is instructive about