Psychtember Character Interview with Jason (Freaks Like Us)

I'm excited to have Jason, from Susan Vaught's Freaks Like Us, join us today for a chat!

"When Jason Milwaukee's best friend Sunshine vanishes, Jason knows that something is terribly wrong, but solving her disappearance will require pushing through all the voices in his head and then getting the world to listen to him. His schizophrenia is stopping him from remembering the events leading up to her disappearance, and often he discounts his own memories, and his own impressions. But his deep knowledge that he would never hurt his friend, plus the faith of his parents and a few others in the town bring him to the point of solving the mystery. In the end, it's Sunshine's own love for Jason (Freak) that persuades him of his own strength and goodness. By turns brilliantly witty and searingly honest, Susan Vaught's newest novel is a laugh-out-loud, tear-jerking, coming-of-age story." (from Goodreads)

1.) Thanks for dropping by the blog, Jason! If you could describe yourself in five words, what would they be?

Freak, freak, freak, freak, freak . . .

I know my parents hate that, and Sunshine sort of hates it, but that's what I am. Might as well face it. A long time ago, I figured out that people would call me names, so I beat them to it, and the names don't bother me. My dad thinks I have "poor self esteem" (whatever that means), and my mom thinks I'm being sarcastic or mean to myself. Sunshine thinks I'm not respecting all the good things inside me. I think I'm protecting myself, you know, like using armour, only my armour is made out of a word: FREAK.

2.) Friendship obviously means a lot to you. What do you think is the most important quality to have in a friend?

Loyalty. You have to be there for each other, because everybody else flakes when it's convenient or it gets to be too much for them--and it always gets to be too much for them. Most  people don't have the guts to live lives with problems like we have, or even help us live ours. You should look out for each other, keep each other's secrets, and never ever ever break your promises.

3.) You've had your share of experience with bullies. What's your number one piece of advice about how to deal with them?

Stay away from them and protect yourself. If there are older people in your life who won't flake, tell them and get help. You have to be smart about it, because there's always a time when no one's there to protect you. Bullies are seriously bad news, and each one is just the same as the last one, but also different. I try to figure out what they want, what makes them tick, and most importantly, where they'll be and when, and I make sure I'm somewhere else. People like that are a virus. I don't want them to make me sick.

4.) What is your greatest fear?

Losing Sunshine forever, that's my greatest fear. My second greatest fear is getting lost in my voices and the crazy stuff I see, and not being able to come back. I guess the first fear would happen if the second one did, and vice-versa. They're tied together for me, because Sunshine is just that important.

5.) Where do you see yourself in five years' time?

I hope I'm finished with college and either going on to a higher degree, or working. I'd do okay with a job, if I didn't have to talk to a lot of people. Maybe I'll work on computers, or plumbing. Computer wires and pipes don't have much to say.

6.) If you could have one day where you could go anywhere and do anything in the world, where would you go and what would you do?

I'd take Sunshine to a tropical island where nobody else lived, and there were no bugs and no sharks--but a lot of good food, maybe left by a bunch of rich people on a yacht. We'd eat and swim and talk and rest in the sand, and we wouldn't worry about anything. Everything would be safe and warm and bright, and everything would be okay.


Jason, thanks so much for stopping by and answering all my questions! (And Susan, thanks to you too! :D)

Susan Vaught is the author of numerous YA novels, including My Big Fat Manifesto, Trigger, Exposed, and Going Underground. You can find her online at her website here.

Holding on to Zoe: A Psychtember Review

Patient: Holding on to Zoe by George Ella Lyon

Presentation (from Goodreads):  
"After sixteen-year-old Jules has her baby, Zoe, it doesn’t matter anymore that her mother thinks she’s a drama queen, or that her father left them years ago, or even that Zoe’s father is gone, too. She and her baby make a family now; she doesn’t need anyone else in the world except Zoe. Though it's tough being a new mom, balancing Zoe’s needs with working at the Toyota factory and thinking about how to finish school, Jules is sure she’ll figure it out. Still, she wonders, why can’t anyone be happy for her and Zoe? And why does her mom refuse to believe that Zoe's real?"

*Note: there are huge spoilers discussed in the Axis 4 section of this review, so if you wish to avoid spoilers don't read that part!

Assessment:

Axis 1. Characters

There's just a small cast of characters in this book, with the focus primarily on Jules. If you like unreliable narrators, you'll probably like Jules, because she's about as unreliable as they get. We get such a skewed viewpoint from Jules that we don't know exactly what's true and what's not — although this would have been even more the case, and thus more mystifying and unsettling, if the back cover description didn't give so much away. 

Jules' mom is the complete opposite of helpful, and deserves to be in the running for the Most Annoying and Neglectful Mom of the Year. She keeps pushing Jules when her daughter is obviously having trouble, and she never believes her, which frustrated the heck out of me. Really, it's depressing that she just doesn't seem to care that much about Jules.

 

Axis 2. Premise/plot

This is a short, character-driven book. It's almost like a character study of someone who develops psychosis— their reactions, behaviour, mindset — written for the YA crowd. As I mentioned above, I think the back of the book gives away too much of the plot, and it would have been more surprising if I had known less about it going in.

Axis 3. Writing Style

The writing is simple and minimalist, bringing to mind the bare-boned structure of a play. It flips back and forth between the present and the past (doing so without warning, which is a little confusing).

Axis 4. Psychological Accuracy

There are MAJOR spoilers here (sorry, it's pretty much impossible to avoid them and still assess this book's psychological accuracy!). You have been warned.

The "teen girl gets pregnant and wants to keep the baby" storyline has been done many times before, but the way Jules reacts is different than what we usually see. In her case, the conditions (trauma in the past, father gone, mother as a poor support system) are right for pregnancy to act as a trigger for psychosis. It's a little unnerving that someone can have such a completely different take on reality than most of us, but I had to feel bad for her because she wants a baby so badly that she basically won't let anything else enter her head. While I found it difficult to feel close to her, the fact that she's delusional is not alienating; the reader will not have trouble hoping that Jules will get help. Jules' voice sounds very young for her age — more like 13 or 14 than 16 — but this might be due in part to her mental state; it certainly works to convey her naivete and obvious need for help.   

It's told in 1st-person POV, so the reader is placed fully in Jules' mind, and it becomes obvious how her perception of her environment has been contorted to reflect this inner reality she's crafted, so that everything makes sense within this delusion of hers. She displays the symptoms of hallucination (she sees a bunch of socks tied together as a baby) and delusion (she believes she has a baby), and her level of social functioning has certainly declined as well. Jules also shows a few signs of atypical cognitive functioning — she seems to talk back and forth with herself, and she sometimes uses word association. These are perhaps indicative of thought disorder (which can be a symptom of schizophrenia), although they're not a defining feature of her presentation. Depending on how long she has been having trouble, she would probably be diagnosed with either schizophreniform disorder (more than a month but less than 6 months) or schizophrenia (over 6 months). It's difficult to tell how long she's been exhibiting symptoms since the story jumps around a bit in time. I suspect the most likely subtype Jules would fall under would be undifferentiated schizophrenia; she's a little bit edgy about how other people view Zoe, but I don't think it's enough to qualify her for paranoid subtype.

As for the therapy, I'm not certain which theoretical orientation Emma uses. She asks a lot of questions, and uses some unusual techniques to connect with Jules, but almost seems to operate from a psychodynamic understanding in some respects — the significance she places on memories, for example. I didn't buy the "breakthrough" that Jules has; the unlocking of her memories and subsequent destruction of her delusion happens too quickly and easily to be believable. 

That said, the actual explanation for her developing psychosis — that she was sexually abused in childhood — is plausible, as there does seem to be a connection between the two. I suspect we're meant to take a Freudian interpretation of it: Zoe representing Jules' "inner child" who was abused, and Jules now wanting to protect that little girl. I'm very dubious, however, about the sudden disappearance of Jules' delusion from nothing more than retrieval of repressed memories. "Recovered" memories are a tricky business, seeing as therapists can influence clients to "remember" something that never actually happened. In any case, I would suspect a longer relationship with the therapist would be needed before Jules felt comfortable enough to let herself access these memories. While it's a good sign that Emma is able to create a positive, trusting relationship with Jules, the whole thing still happens rather quickly.

Furthermore, I'd like to better understand the role the medication played here. There are a few brief mentions of pills Jules takes (she believes they're vitamin pills) but I'd really like to know more details. Anti-psychotics are one of the primary methods of treatment for psychosis, and yet they seem to provide Jules with very little benefit. Jules' recovery is quite obviously attributed to the memory retrieval, but in real life I suspect the anti-psychotics would be far more effective.

Validity Score: How psychologically accurate was Holding on to Zoe?

Patient shares symptoms with: Without Tess by Marcella Pixley

Patient's statement:

I will never let anything bad happen to Zoe. No one will hurt or scare her; she'll never be hungry, afraid, or alone. Not while I'm alive. I sat in that day care one whole day watching everything Mrs. Jamieson did before I agreed to leave Zoe there. I know what she's fed, how often she's changed, what they do at nap time. I know Allie and Mary Jane and Glenda, who also work there, and they know I'm paying attention. There's a lot in this world that would gobble little girls up. Dark places in every neighborhood. Most parents don't see, but I see. That's my job. 

Diagnosis: 3.5 shooting stars.

For more information about schizophrenia, see here.

Disclaimer: I received this book as an ARC for review from the publisher. 

This book counts toward my goal for the Just Contemporary reading challenge.

Coming To Terms With Psychology Terms

Casual misuse of psychology terminology really irritates me. I'm sure it must be the same for any field of specialization, but I think we see more incorrect use of words related to psychology in books, just because human behaviour is such an important part of characterizations and stories generally.

So, I'm going to list a few terms here and their correct meanings, so that the next time you read them you'll be able to spot them and go, "Aha! This author so totally didn't do their research here."

Psychopathic: describing someone who is a psychopath — an individual with a number of distinctive characteristics, including limited emotional capacity, manipulative tendencies, and an absence of guilt or empathy. As in, "The psychiatrist testified that the serial killer was psychopathic." Not to be confused with psychotic. Helpful pop culture example: Dexter.

Psychotic: referring to an individual who experiences a disconnect with reality, in the form of either auditory and/or visual hallucinations, delusions, catatonia, or a thought disorder (in other words, psychosis). As in, "Sally admitted she saw chartreuse flamingoes doing the hula, and the therapist realized that Sally was psychotic." Disorders which may have psychosis as a symptom include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, and substance abuse can also result in psychosis.

Schizophrenic: describing an individual with schizophrenia — a mental disorder characterized by a combination of symptoms that may include psychosis, personality/behavioural change, and difficulties with social, emotional and cognitive functioning. There are five subtypes of schizophrenia recognized by the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)-IV: paranoid, catatonic, disorganized, undifferentiated, and residual. Helpful pop culture example: John Nash from A Beautiful Mind.

Dissociative identity disorder: a rare mental illness characterized by two or more identities present within one individual (sometimes termed "alters"). The cause is still not well-understood, although there may be a connection to trauma experienced. This used to be called split, dual, or multiple personality disorder, but the DSM-IV term is dissociative identity disorder. People sometimes confuse this one with schizophrenia, but they are two very different disorders. Helpful pop culture example: Gollum/Smeagol from Lord of the Rings.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder: one type of anxiety disorder that involves obsessions (cognitions) the individual does not want to have, followed by behaviour or mental acts the individual feels compelled to perform to rid themselves of the anxiety brought on by the obsession. I see the term "OCD" thrown around so frequently that you'd think half the population had it, but you can't claim that you have OCD just because you have a particular quirk or obsession. There are specific diagnostic criteria that must be met, just like any other disorder. Not to be confused with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Helpful pop culture example: the guidance counselor, Emma, from Glee.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: unlike OCD, this is a personality disorder, not an anxiety disorder. Someone with OCPD has a general preoccupation with perfectionism, order, and control; symptoms include: extreme attention to detail and regulations, rigidity of personal views, dislike of delegating tasks to others, and excessive devotion to work. Unlike OCD, which is ego-dystonic (incompatible with the individual's self-concept, making it unwanted), people with OCPD do not find their symptoms problematic (making it ego-syntonic). Helpful pop culture example: Monica from Friends (admittedly, she's never diagnosed with it, but I suspect she at least has a tendency to OCPD).

Asperger's: a syndrome on the autism spectrum characterized by difficulties with interacting socially, and specific behavioural patterns. This is another term that gets tossed around pretty casually, but once again this is diagnosable; it can't be declared just because someone is quirky, geeky, or anti-social. Helpful pop culture examples: Brennan from Bones and Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory (Sheldon's is unconfirmed, but much of his behaviour is certainly indicative of Asperger's syndrome).
 

Subconscious: in essence, a word made up by pop psychology. If you're talking about Freudian theory, please do not use this term as it is incorrect. For more info see this Wikipedia article.

Unconscious: Freud's term for the part of the mind that is wholly outside of our own awareness. This, the preconscious, and the conscious make up the mind in Freudian theory.

Hope this helps the next time you stumble across a psych term you're not sure about while reading! I know I've only touched on a few here, though, so psychology aficionados: which terms do you find being misused in YA (or other books)?