Author Description

"In 1994 psychiatrist Paul Linde took off on an African adventure. After five years of working on the front lines of psychiatry, in the emergency rooms and city jails of San Francisco, Dr. Linde thought he had seen it all. But little had prepared him for the madness and mystery he found at Harare Central Hospital in Zimbabwe, where dozens of new patients flooded through the doors every week, each one a fresh lesson in psychosis, culture-clash, and compassion.". "Of Spirits and Madness takes us on an adventure into medicine and the mind. With sensitivity, good humor, and growing insight, Linde tells the stories of his patients, their demons, and their difficulties. We meet Winston Chivero, a self-mutilator who sticks needles and nails into his shin and blames the wounds on witchcraft; Sister Pagomo, a nurse's aide who suffers from kufungisisa, the ailment of "thinking too much"; Esther Mawena, a demoralized young woman who tries to kill herself after her husband infects her with the virus that causes AIDS; Samuel Rugare, a farm laborer driven to mbanje madness after smoking too much cannabis; and many others."--BOOK JACKET.