In the novel, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1964) , Deborah Blau is an adolescent girl who is diagnosed and begins treatment for schizophrenia at the age of sixteen. Although the story takes place directly after World War II, when little about schizophrenia was known, and some of the treatments described in the novel may not be used anymore, the therapy sessions with Dr. Fried do seem to dovetail with growing trends concerning correct treatment for those with schizophrenia, a diagnosis that accurately fits Deborah Blau. Both the book and those trends indicate that the more the patient is involved in the recovery process, and the more hope and motivation involved in the therapy, the more likely that the recovery process will be successful and the patient able to live a productive and independent life. This paper will use the novel, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, to discuss the nature of schizophrenia and the hope that therapy can provide, comparing the process to current data found in the American Psychological Association Monitor on Psychology (2000).
The book opens as the unbelieving parents are bringing their daughter to the mental hospital, while trying to pretend that this is nothing more than a weekend outing. However, while they feel they are trying to placate her and make it easier for her, she sees the act as one more lie, and despises them for it (Greenberg, 1964). Dr. Fried, Deborah's therapist, knows this to be one thing that the mentally ill can not tolerate. The most important request she makes of Deborah's mother is to not lie to Deborah. Additionally, the times when Dr. Fried gets angry at the way Deborah was treated, was when Deborah was lied to (Greenberg, 1964, p. 41, 44). This does not mean that the therapist pities her patient, on the contrary, she urges Deborah that "if we work like the devil together we can beat this thing" (p. 25). However, Dr. Fried will not do this without the willing cons...