Elyn Saks

Elyn Saks has suffered from schizophrenia all her life, but kept it hidden while excelling in her academic studies, receiving a philosophy degree from Oxford University and a law degree from Yale University before joining the faculty at USC. She is also an adjunct professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, where she does research about society’s rejection of the mentally ill and how high-functioning schizophrenics cope.  Articles of interest:  NY Times and Time.
Saks came out of the mental health closet with her 2007 memoir, “The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.” The book described the night terrors she had suffered throughout her life, her earlier beliefs that she had mentally caused the deaths of thousands of people, and the often-inhumane treatment she had received at mental health facilities. Update on her recent activity here.  I like this quote from the Huffington Post:  "This gets to the essence of recovery, the need to form strong, loving relationships with people whom you trust."

Read here for some more interesting information relating schizophrenia and autism.