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| Photo courtesy of the University of Alabama |
Fredrick E. Vars is the author of the new book Through the Fire: How People with Mental Illness Are Empowering Each Other. He is also the co-author of the book Weapon of Choice. He is the Robert W. Hodgkins Chairholder of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law, and he lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
Q: What inspired you to write Through the Fire?
A: I had been teaching mental health law for many years and wanted to step back and survey the system more broadly.
I started with my own journey, including two psychiatric hospitalizations eventually leading to law reform in five states, when I quickly discovered the peer movement.
I was shocked to learn that there are many more peer-run organizations providing mental health services in this country than traditional non-peer organizations. That's when the subtitle and plan for the book emerged: "How People With Mental Illness Are Empowering Each Other."
I hope that inspiring stories about people with mental illness working within the system and working to make the system better might counter negative stereotypes and might suggest evidence-based policy reforms.
Q: What do you see as the role of peer support in helping people with mental illness?
A: One of the 50 peers I interviewed for the book defined "recovery" as "living the life you choose." That is the operating principle of peer support. Peer support therefore starts with questions: "What do you need?" "What do you want?" There is no limit.
One peer who worked in housing explained: "If you tell me you want to live in a Park Avenue condominium, I'll try to help you get one." "If you need me to translate a notice from the gas company into Spanish, I'll do that." And when a client (who had initially been racist toward him) requested that the peer visit her on her deathbed, he did not hesitate.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I described the book to about 10 college friends and collected suggestions. No winners, but some great ideas! As mentioned above, I think the subtitle emerged relatively quickly.
"Through the Fire" is part of an Oscar Wilde quotation: "They have been through the fire, and what fire does not destroy, it hardens." The idea, of course, is that lived experience builds strength, but also empathy and the capacity to help others.
Q: What impact did it have on you to write this book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: I intersperse some of my own experiences throughout the book, so writing about them helped me put them in context. If just one or two things had been different in my life, I know my outcomes would have been much worse. I am now even more thankful of the layers of privilege that kept me from homelessness, jail, or death.
But the biggest takeaway for me is awe and respect for my interviewees. They survived some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable and instead of running away, ran right back into the fire, and started pulling other people out. I hope telling their stories will debunk stereotypes about people with mental illness and inspire action.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am working on three scholarly projects: two related to firearm policy and one criticizing the practice of arresting people for misconduct on psych wards.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I experienced my third psychiatric hospitalization while writing this book. It was particularly traumatic and underscored so many of the themes in the book. As a result, I wrote an entirely unexpected epilogue.
The one point I want to emphasize is that involuntary, coerced treatment imposes greater harm than anyone who hasn't experienced it can appreciate. Make a list of everything that should be tried before resorting to forced treatment. Now double or triple the list. Bolster community care, of course, but add housing, education, and employment interventions.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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