Lessons from 1 North: A Guide to Life Outside the Asylum

Marc A. Zirogiannis
Lulu (2009)
ISBN 9780557095551
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (9/09)


Marc A. Zirogiannis writes of his own experience and the valuable eye-opening lessons he learned after being involuntarily admitted to 1 North, the psychiatric ward, at a hospital on Long Island, New York. “Lessons from 1 North: A Guide to Life Outside the Asylum” presents practical, real-life observations about the meaning of life the author made during his recovery process.

Marc urges those people in the “normal world” suffering in silence, for fear of the stigma, to seek needed assistance and to seek help of their own volition, avoiding having to suffer the pain of learning the lessons the hard way through a near-death experience as he did.

Anticipating the goals of treatment, the disciplines, and the routines are helpful in light of the expected rewards. Marc has detailed these is layman’s terms. A helpful resource of “Self Help Hotlines” is also included which addresses specific needs.

In Marc’s case he had to go through a near-death experience to learn about himself, to put his life in proper perspective. He shares ten life-altering lessons he learned during his recuperation.

Loving family support, long-time friends and a home to go to made it possible for Marc to return to “normal” life after only eighteen days of therapy. Knowing there were those left behind with nowhere to go, Zirogiannis is setting up a foundation to assist psychiatric in-patients with the paperwork and funding necessary to find housing after they are medically and psychologically ready to be discharged.

Zirogiannis states his underlying motive in writing the book this way, “We need to learn what we can and cannot handle and when to seek the assistance of others…All of my misconceptions about what it meant to be recovering in a psychiatric facility were shattered…” His way of looking at things had become profoundly different. He came to realize “it is okay to ask for help.” He left the program with a new mindset.

“Lessons from 1 North” is worthy of a wide distribution and can easily be adapted for inclusion in professional journals or as a series of articles in self-help or in popular magazines dealing with either a physical or psychological emphasis.

 I look forward to hearing Marc Zirogiannis’ full story, the issues leading up to the breakdown as well as an epilog which brings the reader up to date on the outcome of these circumstances. His experience is fresh. Marc’s writing in “Lessons from 1 North: A Guide to Life Outside the Asylum” is articulate, candid, and relevant.

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