Mind Estranged: My Journey from Schizophrenia and Homelessness to Recovery, by Bethany Yeiser

October 2026 | Vol. 70, No. 3
By Beatrice Antonenko, OMS-III, KCUCOM

Mind Estranged: My Journey from Schizophrenia and Homelessness to Recovery, by Bethany Yeiser, is an autobiographical account of the author’s road from her youth in Ohio as a student scholar and accomplished violinist living in a loving, supportive, and happy home, to life as a homeless young woman suffering from schizophrenia and her eventual and remarkable recovery. She chronicled her descent in her early 20s from a straight-A student at a prestigious West Coast university to losing touch with reality, initially retaining the ability to travel the world, taking huge risks, and being driven to help the underserved.

After becoming detached from society, she faced adversity, isolation, and criminalization. She also faced indifference and disgust while attempting to find food and shelter.

This is a personal story depicting how society treats individuals with mental illness, how losing touch with reality felt, and what recovery for her entailed. Reading this will enable you to better understand the effect of schizophrenia on the afflicted. It is not a text. It is the true story of the struggle of a courageous young woman who achieved recovery and now works to educate and help others with schizophrenia.

Flight from Reason: A Mother’s Story of Schizophrenia, Recovery, and Hope, by Karen S. Yeiser, Bethany’s mother, is a recommended companion volume, revealing what a family of a child with schizophrenia endured.

Mind Estranged is available at used book sellers such as Thrift Books (thriftbooks.com), as well as Amazon and the CURESZ Foundation, curesz.org, ISBN 978-0-9903452-2-0. It is available digitally, ISBN 978-0-9903452-0-6. Bethany Yeiser has lectured at several medical meetings, including POMA.