KOLKER: First of all, thank you so much for including me in this interview. “I was surprised to learn many things when researching the Galvin family’s story…” Why has there been no unequivocal solution to curing this disorder, and why wasn’t it a priority in the mental health field? To make matters complicated, the definition of schizophrenia changes with each generation with each edition of the DSM so that it’s often tailored toward the style of treatment at the time. However, in the case of schizophrenia, it is generally understood that the solution is not medication (although Thorazine at times has helped to manage symptoms), but early intervention and support from family, especially when it first materialises (usually in adolescence) will make a difference. In fact, of us assumed it was like depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, where the patient could be mainstreamed once they were prescribed SSRIs. While this mysterious syndrome (as opposed to disease) does run in families, we understand the way it is inherited has long baffled scientists for decades as it does not appear to be passed directly from parent to child. We have been looking forward to discussing Hidden Valley Road with you – it was a fascinating read! Your book has helped break down the misconceptions about schizophrenia – that it’s not a disease, but a collection of symptoms that have been bundled together under one name in the DSM.
“ Hidden Valley Road is a riveting true story of an American family that reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness.”ĪUTHORLINK: Mr Kolker, thank you for your time today. “A feat of empathy and narrative journalism” And the other children stood by, horrified, with no way of knowing whether they would be next. Six of the ten Galvin boys, one after the other, were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Behind the closed doors of the house on Hidden Valley Road was a far different reality. It’s the heart-wrenching, true story of the Galvin family who were the envy of other upwardly mobile Colorado families in the 70s, until tragedy hit. Hidden Valley Road is the best-selling, critically acclaimed non-fiction work by Robert Kolker, the New York Times best-selling author of Lost Girls. Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.An EXCLUSIVE AUTHORLINK interview with Robert Kolker
Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins-aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony-and they worked hard to play their parts. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream.