Purpose

There are two main reasons behind Clem Martini’s authorship of Bitter Medicine. The first, and likely primary, reason for writing Bitter Medicine is to share their personal experience dealing with Schizophrenia and the struggles to find appropriate healthcare for mental health in a system that seems to be grossly underfunded and failing those it claims to support. Clem Martini details the struggles of his brothers, Ben and Olivier, trying to cope with their conditions, as well as the social stigma that surrounds Schizophrenia and how it affects both its victims and those surrounding them.

The second reason for writing Bitter Medicine is to shine light on how disregarded those with mental illness are once they’re in the government’s system. From meagre government assistance (such as Alberta’s $1188 monthly stipend back in 2010), to struggling social programs and lack of funding in the mental healthcare sector (Bitter Medicine, pg. 163). All of these struggles and statistics are brought up by Clem Martini to not only show the full scope of what his family and brothers went through, but what millions today are still experiencing.

Bitter Medicine evokes discussion through Martini’s sharing of their personal experience in an ongoing discussion around mental illness, the stigma that surrounds it, and what can be done better to care for those affected by it without relegating them to a life of confusion and anxiety.

- Mark Philips