Living in the Dead Zone - Softcover

Faris, Gerald A. And Ralph M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1552123782 ISBN 13: 9781552123782

Publisher: Trafford Books, 2000

Synopsis

A modern clinical analysis of music icons Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. The Faris' have written a modern clinical analysis, detailing a surprising coincidence about the lives of Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. They raise the answer the following questions: Why did they behave so outrageously? Why were they so self-destructive? What did they have in common? What could have helped them? What really killed them? Their work examines how Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, the 'king and queen' of rock and roll, suffered from a little understood psychiatric disorder that eventually took their lives. To form the conclusions in their book, they carefully analyze the voluminous literature, films and other pertinent information about the two performing artists. At the same time, they develop the imaginary but revealing psychotherapy sessions with Janis and Jim. They have constructed the therapy sessions in a way that is both entertaining and sympathetic to help clarify the nature and complexity of this disorder. They provide those curious about Janis and Jim with a very provocative, plausible and dramatic account of their lives. Of course, they had no direct opportunity to interview them, nor to provide them with therapy. In that sense, the therapy sessions are a kind of faux activity. But they have studied everything that was ever written about Janis and Jim and have developed an analysis that is highly probably and cogent. If their analysis is correct, and if we knew then what we know now about the disorder that took their lives, then the therapy sessions developed in their book are as close as possible to what they might have been, had they actually sought help from a psychoanalytically trained clinician. You may, however, find it difficult to categorize this book. It isn't a psychohistory of the two performers in the conventional sense of the genre, nor is it based on actual therapeutic encounters with them and of course it isn't a typical psychobiography. Nothing comparable exists in the literature. Focusing on the lives and deaths of these two controversial characters, the Faris' convincingly describe how their outrageous behaviors and self-destructive impulses were part of a complex and confusing condition known to clinicians as a "borderline personality disorder." Through the intense, poignant, hypothetical psychotherapy sessions with each of them, the authors reveal the devastating and relentless nature of this disorder. The book is clinical in theme, lyrical and narrative in style and deeply sympathetic to the real suffering of Janis and Jim. This analysis differs from previously published materials that 'described' their outrageous behaviors, temperaments, moods and personalities, in that it provides an 'explanation' for the behaviors that led to their premature deaths. The psychotherapy sessions are perhaps the the most captivating aspect of the book. By letting Janis and Jim "speak" through these sessions, the Faris' provide surprising insights about their outrageous behaviors and emotional turmoil. The drama and intensity of these exchanges between Janis and Jim and a modern, experienced clinician/therapist will captivate as much as they inform.

About this title

About the Author

Gerald A. Faris, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist with more than 25 years of hospital inpatient, private practice and supervisory experience and was an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Faris has drawn on his extensive clinical experience in presenting Janis and Jim as the extraordinary talented, intelligent and tormented individuals they were. Ralph M. Faris, Ph.D. has presented the sociological commentary and analysis of the era in which Janis and Jim lived. He is a professor of sociology and the director of the Honors Program at the Community College of Philadelphia, where he was recently won the National Lindback Foundation, Distinguished Teaching Award.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Prologue I know Janis Joplin. She's been in my office many times. I have seen her funky clothes, heard her cackling laugh, been the target of her good-natured wisecracks, experienced her unpredictable affect storms, and felt her agony. I have lamented the dismal, pitiable quality of her life, wrestled with her demons, and tried to help her with the most intractable of inner conflicts. And I've observed her relentless drive toward self-destruction. Jim Morrison, too, has been in my office. Like Janis, he was bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. Unlike Janis though, his demeanor was frequently abstruse and enigmatic, his ever present arrogance being the most prominent feature of his interactions with others. He uses words to confuse, attack, and diffuse; yet his demons, like Janis', were unmerciful and in the end did not permit him to escape. Finally he fell victim to them as he slid into the abyss. Perhaps I should say that I have seen such patients who bear a striking psychological resemblance to Janis and Jim. I have seen these patients in psychiatric hospitals and in my private practice. I have also supervised interns and clinicians who were treating them. Of course, these patients are not exactly like Janis or Jim. No person is ever identical to another - not even an identical twin. People have their own unique combination of traits apart from their pathology, as do my patients. But they are very similar to Janis and Jim in that they engage in the same terrible struggle with the emptiness of the dead zone. Overcome by constant misery and beset by a vast and dreadful emotional emptiness, these patients are unable to contain the forces that drive their rampant impulsivity. Lacking a stable sense of self and vulnerable to sudden emotional episodes, they desperately seek to sustain unsustainable relationships, as did Janis and Jim. Like them, they lead lives that are both intense and chaotic. One should not, however, misconstrue the analysis we provide in this book as an attempt to diminish the value of Janis and Jim's creativity nor of their contributions as performing artists. Neither should one take this work to be yet another expose of "real" lives of two rock stars. Janis and Jim should not and cannot be defined solely by their affliction; and it is certainly true that their lives, regrettably, have been greatly exploited. Still, we do wonder how they were able to bring so much energy, creativity and excitement to their music in spite of their affliction. Speculating in that direction might be intriguing, and we do have a few thoughts on the matter as we attempt to understand the psychological roots of their illnesses. We provide explanations of their behavior which are drawn from more recent developments in modern psychiatry and psychology - developments that we believe constitute the most comprehensive account of the disorder that ultimately took their lives.

Edition details

• Publisher: Trafford Books
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1552123782
• ISBN 13: 9781552123782
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272