Fragile Connections: Memoirs of Mental Illness for Pastoral Care Professionals

Endorsements: One of the greatest contributions of Cappss book is the way in which he weaves together a vast range of theories interpretations and explanations of psychopathology without ever losing sight of the humanity of the person living with mental illness. Far too many books seek to find one single explanation of the baffling and complex phenomenon of mental illness. Fragile Connections will expand our understanding and empower pastors and others concerned about mental illness with an eloquent exploration of one of the greatest mysteries of the human predicament. --Lewis Rambo San Francisco Theological Union and Graduate Theological Union Donald Capps skillfully guides his readers into the strange world of severe mental illness a neighborhood disturbingly close to home. He first offers the lay of the land by scrutinizing particular psychiatric classifications. He then carefully treks through gripping narrative accounts of those battling schizophrenia clinical depression bipolar disorder and Alzheimers disease. Finally with interpretive precision honed through a lifetime of attending to persons in pain Capps risks his own stunning insights into the anguish and mystery of these lives. An exquisite and sobering journey. --Robert C. Dykstra Princeton Theological Seminary Fragile Connections is a most welcome resource for those of us involved in theological education. Cappss creative use of five memoirs allows persons who suffer from various mental illnesses and the family members who care for them to speak in their own voices about living with these afflictions. --Carol J. Cook Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Doing good with stealth as usual Donald Capps has designed this biblically historically grounded book for seminary students and ministers who will find no other like it. The book holds out the key to understanding the experiences of those who are mentally ill and those who love them. Capps argues that the study of individuals personal memoirs--rather than medically modeled case studies--reveals the deep and profoundly personal nature of each persons unique experience of mental illness. What is more written as it is in Cappss inimitable style this book fills a void in seminary curricula as it addresses a problem in methodology. --Antoinette Goodwin pastoral psychotherapist Princeton New Jersey