An excerpt from an interview with Eva Marcushamer in which she recounts working closely with psychiatric patients (schizophrenics, catatonics, others). She explains that many patients sought her out, describes entering their communicative world by listening to their hallucinations rather than correcting them, and illustrates this through anecdotes (dancing together, reading to a non‑speaking boy). The passage emphasizes acceptance, empathy, and connecting via a shared "crazy" or psychotic side rather than confronting or dismissing symptoms.
Chapters
Everyone lined up to talk to me. They would come to my room to find me. Imagine that. And that's what I'm saying. Crazy people know the unconscious of unconscious communication is wonderful. Because everyone. And I'm talking about schizophrenics, catatonics. People who lived and still live with permanent hallucinations. If all of them lived with permanent hallucinations. And they came to me to tell me their story, right? And their hallucinations. The only ones who didn't were two anorexic girls who weren't so serious. I mean, anorexia doesn't fall into this. In this. That I'm telling you. But all the psychotics. All the psychotics who were there, they all talked to me. And there was a boy who didn't talk to anyone but me. He gave me books so I could read them to him. Yes. They didn't. They didn't come in when I entered the circle. Because they made you do activities. You danced and did things that I didn't want to participate in. But they took me. The psychotics took me to participate in those circles. They wanted me to be there. And what does that tell you about mental health? You say that you learn to understand the mentally ill. Of course. Because we all have this crazy side. And if we can connect with this psychotic part of ourselves, which is what I connected with when I become catatonic, it is my psychotic side. I can understand the psychotic part of the other. And I'm not fighting with them. They could come with me because from my crazy side to their crazy side, and I say crazy affectionately, we could understand each other. I didn't fight with their hallucinations. I listened to them. I asked questions. I was interested in what they were feeling. I didn't tell them. No, that's not true. That's wrong. That's not how you should feel. No, we danced together in our madness. I danced with them to their madness. There was a woman who literally danced with me. And I danced with her to her rhythm. That was her way of communicating. Yeah, right. And that's where I come back to this acceptance thing.
