The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness

Elyn’s family consists of her parents and her two younger brothers, Warren and Kevin. Although her parents are never named, her relationship with them is explored in some detail.

Elyn’s parents are described as having a relationship typical of husband and wife in 1950s America. Deeply in love and enjoying each other’s company above all else, Elyn’s father is nevertheless the dominant partner, with her mother submitting to his ideas, beliefs, and wishes. Her parents are described as loving, although subsequent incidents reveal them to be somewhat authoritarian; their response to Elyn’s experimentation with marijuana is particularly harsh, and they forcibly admit her to rehab.

Despite their demonstrations of love, over time Elyn comes to realize that they have, at times, chosen to be unavailable to her in her times of need. Elyn is never able to be fully open with them about her illness, and they consistently avoid discussing the details of it with her. When Elyn is diagnosed with cancer later in life, her parents’ support is lacking, which particularly distresses Elyn. Nevertheless, Elyn continues to love and appreciate her parents. While acknowledging their flaws, she remarks that she learned enough from them to provide her with important coping skills that helped her deal with her illness.

Dr. Anthony Storr is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst consulting at Warneford in Oxford. Dr. Storr is the first therapist with whom Elyn feels seen and heard without judgment. Recognizing the need for Elyn’s brilliant mind to be sufficiently occupied despite her illness, he recommends that she continue with her studies at Oxford; this is a welcome surprise for Elyn, and it is what allows her to be open to the rest of his recommendations. Dr. Storr suggests that Elyn will need to be in intensive talk therapy for a very long time; Elyn agrees to this, and over the course of her journey it proves to be a key aspect to the management of her illness.

Mrs. Elizabeth Jones is a psychoanalyst whom Elyn begins to consult with on Dr. Storr’s recommendation. Although she is not a doctor and cannot prescribe medication (something that Elyn is seen to need later on), she is nevertheless extremely efficient in helping Elyn manage her symptoms. Mrs. Jones is empathetic, tolerant, patient, and understanding. Her calm demeanor and lack of reaction to the many vivid and violent thoughts Elyn describes to her is especially helpful, as Elyn is able to use sessions with Mrs. Jones as a “safety valve” to safely explore her deepest, darkest thoughts.

Elyn ends up developing an extremely close relationship with Mrs. Jones. While initially distraught to an alarming degree when Elyn has to leave England and Mrs. Jones, she eventually returns and is able to bid Mrs. Jones farewell a second time with more composure and acceptance. She also visits her a couple more times after this, though Mrs. Jones is in poor health owing to complications from an automobile accident. Mrs. Jones passes away shortly after.

Dr. Joseph White is a psychiatrist whom Elyn works with on recommendation from YPI at New Haven. He does psychoanalytical work with Elyn, despite this approach not being traditionally seen as effective for patients with psychosis. Nevertheless, Dr. White’s conviction in the method serves Elyn well, and she makes great progress with him. Being a medical doctor, Dr. White also begins medication for Elyn after an episode of psychosis; he introduces Elyn to Navane.

Like Mrs. Jones, Dr. White is patient and understanding with Elyn; she is particularly reassured by the fact that he refrains from forcibly hospitalizing her when she has episodes of psychosis. Furthermore, Dr. White manages to convince Elyn to take medication fairly consistently because she feels respected by his approach. He even agrees to let her try and reduce dosage on multiple occasion, despite his own reservations. Elyn greatly appreciates the space he gives her to make choices about her own treatment, and she trusts and respects his recommendations throughout the time she works with him.

Kaplan is an analyst whom Elyn begins to work with on Dr. White’s recommendation, when she moves from New Haven to Los Angeles. Elyn’s relationship with Kaplan is ambivalent from the beginning. Kaplan blends psychoanalysis with medication, an approach that works well for Elyn; furthermore, he responds to her episodes with psychosis with the same equanimity that Dr. White and Mrs. Jones did, without any rush to hospitalize Elyn. All of this reassures Elyn, but she is equally conscious of Kaplan’s heavier reliance on medication than her previous therapists. As Elyn remarks in retrospect, this discomfort she feels is something that will play out in complicated ways over the course of their time together. Kaplan is harsher and pushier than Elyn’s previous therapists, not just with medication, but with boundaries within therapy and the expectations he has of her progress. In time, these sour their relationship. While Elyn eventually terminates their working relationship, she remains appreciative of the difference he made to her mental health and wellness.

Despite the negative impact of Elyn’s illness on her social life at various points in her life, she nevertheless manages to forge meaningful friendships with a number of people along the way. These friends remain important sources of support and stability for Elyn. Most important among these friendships is what Elyn shares with Steve Behnke.

Steve is a fellow law student whom Elyn meets during her second admission at Yale. An intelligent and accomplished academic, Steve is able to match Elyn’s mind. They work closely together representing psychiatric patients and children at the mental health law clinic at Yale, and Steve even collaborates with her on her later writing that is published. Steve is one of the first people Elyn is completely open with about her illness, disclosing even her episodes of psychosis to him. Steve remains warm, understanding, and nonjudgmental about Elyn’s condition. She regards her friendship with Steve as one of the things that makes her feel human, and he is one of the two people to whom the book is dedicated.

Will is Elyn’s husband. Elyn meets Will during his time working at the law library at USC, at a point of time when she is doing better in terms of mental health and has achieved tenure. With her mental health and professional life fairly settled, Elyn is able to focus on what she wants from life personally—romance, love, a partner. Will fulfills this need for Elyn. He is gentle, tender, and astute, patently allowing Elyn to open up and trust him at her own pace. When Elyn eventually confides in him the full extent of her illness, he is not surprised, as he had assumed something of the sort based on his observations of her. Will receives Elyn’s confidences with patience and understanding; although his eventual experiences of her psychosis rattle him, he is able to be supportive and present for her. Elyn and Will eventually marry, and he remains a loving, caring, and stable partner for her throughout. Along with Steve, Elyn dedicates her book to Will.