A wounded writer who attempts to make the world a better place for other sufferers is dispersed with painful accounts of abuse which might be confronting for some, but it provides a humbleness and a real sense that speaking out about abuse is the way to healing. ( )

This book was very difficult to read. While I can appreciate the author is writing about his own painful life and appears to be using this book as a cathartic experience, his style of writing left me cold. The book went in circles with the same events being written about again and again though from very slightly differing perspectives.
The book opens with a much too vivid description of a gang rape the author participated in as a teenager. This event obviously coloured a lot of his life choices. However, I failed to see the need for the excruciating detail. It felt gratuitous to me.
I was left wondering what had wrought the turn around in his life. The author described some of what was involved in his healing journey yet it seemed incomplete.
Would I recommend this book to other? No. Would I give it to someone struggling with the consequences of a rotten life and bad choices? No. There just wasn't enough about transformation to make me comfortable with giving it to others. ( )

One of my favorite quotes is “The difference between reality and fiction? Reality has to make sense.” I don’t remember who said that, but it sums up “Losing My Mind” to a tee. Dr. Mirich immediately draws the reader in by sharing an incident that happened during his teenage years: being a part of a group of guys who gang-raped a teenage girl. Mirich shares with us his traumatic childhood, and while that’s no excuse for his delinquency starting in middle school and continuing on through early adulthood, it’s hard not to want to excuse a lot of his behaviors. The Oingo Boingo song “Only a Lad” also reminds me of this book: “It’s not his fault that he can’t behave, society’s made him go astray.”
I found this book to be incredibly inspiring, and what sealed the deal was this gem on the last page: “Shame is said to be the swampland of the soul. Owning my story has helped to eradicate the shadowy shame-cycle that was always hovering around me…Though I try to do my best, I love that I am imperfect. I now know that I am enough, I am grateful, and I am not alone.” We all have our history, our baggage, our shame. This perfectly written closing paragraph sums up a mantra we should all try to chant to ourselves when the day gets rough. ( )

I received a free copy of Losing My Mind through LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review. The author, a licensed psychologist, writes his autobiography. This is not a heal thyself book and was very disturbing to read with vivid descriptions of the awful horrors and addictions the author experienced throughout his childhood and young adult life. I did note that he did always maintain a semblance of a conscience throughout. Like all addicts it took him many years to get honest with himself and others and begin serious therapy. The details of the authors later life; marriage, children, and divorce; are only mentioned. This leads me to think that writing this book may have been a sort of confession or cleansing process that helped the author to begin to heal and forgive himself for the terrible things that he had done and to give others hope that have had similar experiences. I heard somewhere it takes one to know one and life experiences mold a good therapist. ( )

This was a difficult read especially since I was married to a sociopath that molested all of our children and I was in the position of feeling powerless. But reading this I can better understand the PTSD that my children experience and their challenges that they face as they try to be parents. I believe that it has helped me to help them heal even more than we had already. I really liked the ongoing clinical explanations of what was happening to him in his childhood and adult hood. I also liked that he gave some hope at the end of the book. I don't think it is the end of the story and I would like to hear more of how he has changed but I think the book is a good beginning for him as well as for the reader. ( )