In 1978, Susan Sheehan became interested in Sylvia Frumkin, a schizophrenic who spent much of her life in and out of mental hospitals. For more than two years, Sheehan followed Sylvia around, observing when Sylvia spoke to herself, attending sessions with Sylvia's doctors, and, at times, sleeping in the same bed as Sylvia during her stays in psychiatric centers. Through Sheehan's insightful account of Sylvia's life, readers can gain insight into what it's like to live with this disorder, how disabling it can be for them, as well as the symptoms and causes to look out for; Likewise, readers can get a more in-depth look at how some psychiatric hospitals are run and how a misdiagnosis can negatively impact someone's life. According to Beidel, Bulik, and Stanley (2010), schizophrenia is defined as a severe psychological disorder characterized by disorganization of thinking, perception, and behavior; with this definition, Sylvia displayed all these characterizations throughout the novel. His first symptoms manifested themselves at the very beginning of the first chapter, when he "imagined that the red mouthwash would somehow be absorbed into his scalp and make his hair permanently red" and when he "suddenly thought of being Lori Lemaris, the mermaid Clark Kent had met in college and fallen in love with” (Sheehan, 1982, p. 3). These delusions were only the beginning of Sylvia's psychotic episodes during her stay at Creedmor Hospital , Sylvia's symptoms increased for almost a month straight, Sylvia exhibited a variety of symptoms: auditory hallucinations, disorganized thoughts, and violent and antisocial behavior. After speaking to Sylvia for the first time, Dr. Sun, who was his primary care doctor at Creedmor, wrote that “Pt. seems to be very…middle of the road…aware of different disorders in the world and what to look out for; I think this book does an incredible job of describing it. At the same time, this book also takes a look at the way mental hospitals are run. While not all are run as well as Creedmor or Rockland were, there are many hospitals that neglect their patients and need stricter regulations for employees. Likewise, this book also exemplifies how we are still trying to understand what causes some disorders, such as schizophrenia, and how to treat them. Even though the book gets confusing at times and makes you question what exactly is going on, Is There No Place on Earth for Me? By Susan Sheehan it is a book that I will recommend to anyone who wants to better understand what it means to live with schizophrenia and how people with mental difficulties or disorders are regularly treated..