Anothr Name for Madness

by Marion Roach

An account of a young woman's search for understanding and hope as she helplessly witnesses her mother's growing disorientation due to Alzheimer's disease

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published August 1, 1985

Reviews

[Nancy Freund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time someone recommends an "Alzheimers book" to me, the promise is either information or commiseration. This one was published in 1985, so any promise of information would potentially be unfulfilled -- untrustworthy, outdated. Interestingly, I found that the info was a near-exact match for what we seem to know today of this disease and its treatment. Not very encouraging that in 30 years so many more families are struggling with dementia care and yet the systems that are developing to support these families seem to be very slow to develop. And no matter how much money has been invested by big pharma into dementia research, they just keep missing the mark. As a society, we are on a very slow drip of info here, and we're perishing.
However, more than information, I did hope the book might do what people keep saying about certain recommendations: it will make you feel less alone. It REALLY did that. Worth its weight in gold for that. Worth a pallet load of books' weight in that regard.
My family's situation is by no means an exact replica of Marion Roach's situation, yet the familiar scenes as her mother's decline took shape were both horrible to read and really comforting. It's funny -- this book wasn't specifically recommended to me among "Alzheimers books." I found my way to this book because of the author's reputation as a memoir coach. Nothing specifically to do with Alzheimers, initially. Roach's tiny memoir guide called 'The Memoir Project' is the last book I reviewed on Goodreads, in fact. It's outstanding. I ended that review with a comment about this book, this memoir, called 'Another Name for Madness' and the fact that I was eager to read it next. Now that I have, I just wish there was more from this author to read now. When your life narrows its focus to a pin-dot view of your own trauma or tragedy or anything difficult at all, the books that help you navigate through are invaluable. This one has offered that sort of guidance, even without promising to or meaning to, but just by its existence. Very grateful indeed that I found my way to it.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before finally nesting in Texas, I moved around a bit. From the youngest age, the number of boxes filled with books always greatly outnumbered the boxes filled with all of my other possessions. Gradually, I thinned down the number of books, sometimes for space and by-the-pound moving costs, and sometimes due to factors like the flooding of a basement storage unit I was using to store them. The point to this is that I finally ended up with a collection of books that each somehow spoke to me. “Another Name for Madness” was one of these books even though (unlike all my other books) I didn’t reread it after I first bought it some time in the eighties. At that time I was just a few years younger than the 20-something author and I was both mortified by and sympathetic to her frank examination of her family as their mother descended into an illness whose mysteries were just starting to be spoken of publicly at that time.

Fast forward to now. I’m no longer in my early twenties and in the position of being a spectator … I’m front and center as several family members have brought me first-hand experience with various forms of dementia. As this has escalated this past year, a little voice kept reminding me of “Another Name for Madness.” Whether it was the memory of little things, such as the author’s explanation that she could no longer call her mother “mommy” but started calling her by her given name, or some other vignette from the book, it called to me. But time and again I suppressed that voice because I just wasn’t ready. This time it was just too close to home. Then recently I decided I was ready.

I read it straight through – as emotional as it gets, it’s still an engaging and fast book to read. Interestingly, I remembered at the time thinking the author was so selfish (you’ll have to read the book for more), but this time I’m aghast that she had to go through such devastation when only in her mid-twenties. Although we’ve made some strides, I’m not sure we’ve really progressed much further in dealing with the practical and medical particulars of Alzheimer’s. I wish I could believe that there are more support services available to provide relief to all of the victims, bother the person whose ill and those caring for them.

The primary conclusion I came to after this reading is the same I had at my earlier reading: Ms. Roach has bared her soul and her family’s experiences in a way that’s honest, frank and very brave. Other than a somewhat odd, brief diversion into a Harlequin-esque type romance at the end (a naïve escapism which she was certainly entitled to after dealing with so much reality) the book is even stronger to me now. I’m pleased to see that it’s available at the library, and I shall now carefully tape together the falling pages of my copy as the binding has broken away, because it’s a keeper – and I know I shall be rereading it yet again in the future.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marion Roach's "Another Name for Madness: The dramatic story of a family's struggle with Alzheimer's disease" is a gripping first person narrative of a twenty-something daughter coming to terms with her middle aged mother's diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in the early 1980s. The book started out as a New York Times Magazine article about the disease and Roach's struggle to care for her mother with her older sister, Margaret. The article led to agents and book deals, speeches and seminars, and even testifying in front of the US Congress about the diseases and the failure of insurance companies to deal with the care it required.

Roach spares nothing in this short read. A reader will see her at her best as she details her childhood - traveling to Africa, landing her first job out of college at the New York Times, her love for her parents - and a reader will see her at her worst as she avoids coming to terms with her mother's diagnosis, becoming angry with her mother for not remembering something, her guilt and anger, and her relationship with her sister, who was not close with their mother, but quickly stepped in to manage the care out of moral and feelings of family obligations.

This is as much a book about someone suffering with Alzheimer's disease as it is a book about the other type of victim of Alzheimer's: the family of the sufferer. Roach does an spectacular job of showing the her mother's deterioration paralleled to her deterioration as she struggles to deal with the diagnosis and create a new life within the diseases boundaries. The information about the early research, support groups, and fights to obtain governmental support is phenomenal, even though it seems as though Roach plays down her involvement in some of these activities.

The one thing that disappointed me about the book was the end. Roach opted to end the story with her mother's placement in a home specifically designed for Alzheimer's patients. It was the right decision and the staff and environment helped her mother to improve, but this is learned in a quick blurb on the last page, not through first person accounts. I would have liked to learn more about the therapies and recreation activities as well as about the rest of her mother's life as a sufferer of Alzheimer's disease. I attribute this to the fact that the book was probably written before that story had unfolded, but it would have been nice to read about. Maybe Roach will do a follow up memoir?

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
A brave, unflinching memoir that lingers long after the last page.

Marion Roach Smith delivers a powerful, deeply personal narrative that doesn't just tell a story, it invites you to live it with her. Another Name for Madness is more than a memoir about Alzheimer’s; it’s an intimate, emotional exploration of a daughter's love, confusion, and resilience as she navigates the unraveling of her mother’s mind.

The writing is clear, compassionate, and piercingly honest. Marion captures the slow, painful erosion of identity with such grace that I found myself holding my breath in parts. She doesn’t sugarcoat the pain, but neither does she let it swallow the hope. It’s this balance of honesty and humanity that makes the book unforgettable.

If you’ve ever loved someone through illness, or simply want to understand what true caregiving looks like, this book is a must-read. It deserves to be read, shared, and talked about far more than it currently is.

Bravo, Marion. You wrote with courage, and your words matter. Immensely.

[Stephen Boren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms Roach Smith shows great courage in detailing the journey of caring for her Mother who suffered from Alzheimer's Disease. This book, the first of its kind dealing with Alzheimer's, was written when this disease was barely a blip on the screen in American Medicine. When reading it, I was constantly asking myself, "How did she do it?". I include her sister's courage as well; she was also a major figure in taking care of their Mother. This is Memoir at its best - Ms Roach-Smith's writing is riveting and gives off a feeling that you are there in the family home. This is a must read for those who include memoir among their favorite genre as well as those who appreciate stories about illness and how a family can respond to it.

[Suzy Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard book to read because of the subject matter, but I appreciated the author's raw honesty and vulnerability. Alzheimer's disease is cruel and ugly, and Roach didn't try to wrap up the story with a pretty bow at the end.

I learned much, and my level of empathy ratcheted up several notches. Both of my husband's parents suffered from Alzheimer's, but the thing is, the patient is never the only one suffering.

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the toll Alzheimer's has taken on our society as a whole and on the individuals who live through it (the family and caretakers) or die from it.

[Joni Sensel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and well-written view into a daughter's struggle with her mother's Alzheimers in a time before the disease was as well known as it is now. It's also an interesting and revealing peek into an urban (and somewhat privileged) life very different from my own, which gave it another level of interest for me.