NOVEL SHINES NEW LIGHT ON SEVERE DUAL MENTAL ILLNESS, SCHIZO-AFFECTIVE DISORDER

Greg Bauder's second novel, SELENE'S
GUIDING LIGHT, is a study of severe
paranoid-schizophrenia occuring with bi-polar disorder, a dual diagnosis that
modern psychology calls schizo-affective
disorder. It is a disease that he has battled for 28 years. This novel is loosely based on Bauder's experiences and follows the main character's alternately deluded, high, and low moods
as he searches for love and an understanding of his own identity. It shows in rich images the terror and
fantasies of his illness superimposed on his psyche. It begins with Don in a
psychiatric facility believing that he
is experiencing time travel and visiting
The New Earth where he helps the Hairy
People, a primitive tribe who mistake him for a god. He hears the voice of the
Moon Goddess, Selene, and she teaches him the wisdom of the gods as he reincarnates into a Nomad tribe and is
befriended by the poet, Shami. Yet, later when he comes out of psychosis, he
seldom hears Selene and wanders the streets looking for The Hairy People's
Prophet Lady, who he had encountered in
his fantasy world. He has visions of
impending doom for the Earth and has
contact with aliens who lead him back to
the New Earth where he is reunited with
Selene. His inability to determine if his experiences are paranormal or part of his mental illnesses makes for a very
harrowing ride through depression and mania. The novel examines whether there is any creedance to delusions and voices
of aliens or goddesses or whether they are produced by a disturbed mind. But, it is ultimately a plea for tolerance of
the mentally ill who are victims and
usually outcasts in society.