Description
Book SynopsisKatya Cengel became patient number 090 71 51 at the Roth Psychosomatic Unit at Children's Hospital at Stanford in 1986. She was 10 years old. Overwhelmed by feelings of abandonment, worthlessness and anger at having to care for her depressed father, she wanted out. She found it the only way she knows how – by starving herself.
Thirty years later Katya, now a journalist, discovers her young age was not the only thing that made her hospital stay unusual. The idea of psychosomatic units themselves, where patients have dual medical and psychological diagnoses, was a revolutionary one, since largely fallen out of favor. Katya documents this, tracking down the doctors, psychologists and counselors who once cared for her.
What happened to her as a child is told in the voice of the troubled 10-year-old girl she once was. The two narratives unfold simultaneously. The result is a gut-wrenching account of childhood mental illness told from the inside interspersed with updates from experts in the field.
Table of ContentsPrologueBook I: Remember to ForgetThe PrisonersA Taste The PatientsStory TimeHungerThe PrinceThe End (Almost)His SubjectAdmissionA Very Special CategoryBook II: Then and NowBack Behind BarsRothThe QueenShadows Number 090 71 51Incredible Shrinking KidsLittle Difficult OneEscapeAntipsychoticBloodsuckersThe StorytellerThose Who Haunt the MirrorBy ProxyA Rock Feels No PainEverybody Loves DanThe PretendersDedicationGet Well SoonReading Between the LinesExtracurricular ActivitiesBook III: AfterComprehensive Care UnitScared StraightTalk TherapyMementosCountdownPricelessGiving UpThe Warmth of a GhostFlowers on Your GraveFake SantaHaunted GroundDischargeWhat Might Have BeenSmokeStraight FlushTo Be ContinuedLas AmigosAfterwordAcknowledgmentsNotes
